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sepia tone with rays of light piercing the sea, the viewer is privy to a magical

underwater world of jellyfish, octopus, stingray, schools of fish and other sea

creatures. Throughout the documentary Cousteau spears several fish, some as large as

him, bringing them to the shore, along with crustaceans and other marine species for

scientific research. These images certainly do not follow a conservation narrative. At

this stage the narrative and goal was one of scientific discovery to bring underwater

worlds, of wonder and beauty, to the public. Cousteau’s films use new technology to

chronicle marine discoveries, presenting the ocean as mysterious and beautiful, and

later as fragile. Progressively his documentaries presented a narrative of the sea at risk

of destruction by humans. Not only was new technology allowing marine explorers

like Cousteau to make films from the depths of the sea, it also allowed oil extraction,

war and the exploitation of marine species on a scale never before seen. Cousteau

refers to ‘[m]an’s fatale need to strip and spoil and scar’ the ocean habitats in the TV

series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, which screened from 1968-75

(Pescatore in Apnea 1968, min. 9:31). There are also overt messages about

destruction, conservation and concepts of ecosystem in the opening scene to the 1970s

Odyssey 7: Mediterranean - Cradle or Coffin? (Cousteau & Cousteau 1978)

Cousteau’s career moved further into conservation and his films and books brought

messages about the dire state of many marine ecosystems:

The invention of the aqua lung and moving pictures have allowed me to
reveal to the world the fabulous/phagoneous symphony of inner space. I
understood that water and life were inseparably bound and that I must
spend my own career fighting to protect that life, to safeguard future
generations. Tomorrow I will demand that the rights of generations to
come be written in the duties of the living ones. If by such enterprises
make it possible for our children and our children not yet born to live with
dignity in a world symphony I would have fulfilled my mission. (Pro Prac
2014, sec. 04:05)

Although he does not use the word sustainability, he certainly captures its core

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