Could it be that Jacques Cousteau had twins, but forgot to tell anyone? See, the reason I'm asking is that I keep coming across things attributed to a "Jean-Michel Cousteau" that don't seem to add up to just one individual. You all know Jean-Michel, the younger son of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, right? The passionate advocate of marine conservation who gallantly took up the gauntlet of fighting for the oceans because he claimed he heard the world, "cry out for someone to carry forward the irreplaceable work" of his father? And so Jean-Michel set out making the seas a safer place for kelp, jellyfish, whales, and now for "interactive diving". Say what? What was that last marine critter? | Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean ambassador or shark riding jerk? |
Well, interactive diving is the eco-friendly term the dive marketing world uses for dive tours that take you out to feed, pet, touch, ride and otherwise bother and disturb marine wildlife - often charging hundreds or even thousands of dollars for the "privilege".What? How could the son of Jacques support that? See that's the problem. That's why I had to say to myself, "maybe the great one had twins". Never would have really thought about it until someone sent me a copy of the minutes of the early 2000 Board of Director's meetings of the world's largest dive marketing organization - DEMA, where discussion was held regarding a business proposition received from one Jean-Michel Cousteau. According to those minutes (which I believe are public record because of DEMA's non-profit status): "Jean-Michel Cousteau has offered to be the official spokesperson for DEMA to promote recreational diving and snorkeling activities" and "Mr. Cousteau would make himself available exclusively to DEMA for ten (10) days each year to support whatever activities DEMA wishes on behalf of diving." And Cousteau's suggested price tag for all this 'good will'? "Wants $100,000+ per year, but has submitted nothing in writing to DEMA". This all caught my eye because DEMA is about growing the industry, big bucks, and just about nothing else. By nature, "whatever activities DEMA wishes" have nothing to do with what's best for Mother Ocean, but everything to do with maximizing the profits of purveyors of diving equipment and dive tourism. Also mentioned was the fact that, "Jean-Michel has signed-on as spokesman for the Cayman Islands for 3 years." Huh? The Cayman Islands? Why, I asked myself, would a group of rocks jutting from the sea south of Cuba need a "spokesperson"? Even more puzzling, I thought to myself, why would said rocks need the same spokesperson as DEMA? Well, as it turns out there are some very good reasons. Revenues from dive tourism largely support both, and both have become quite concerned of late over the very hard look being given "interactive diving" by a world with a "Don't feed the bears" mentality. In fact, at the very time Jean-Michel was cutting his eco-endorsement deal with the Cayman Islands ("Welcome to Stingray City folks!"), and negotiating one with DEMA ("Hey, you guys could be regulated if you don't clean up your act - and I can help with the sanitizin'!"), the State of Florida took the first step towards a statewide ban on dive tours that fed marine life. So, here's my problem. If Jean-Michel truly believed that the Cayman Islands and DEMA were already doing "right" by the ocean, then he should have been quite happy to endorse these rocks and salesmen for free. After all, wouldn't that serve his "life's calling" of promoting marine conservation? If, on the other hand, the activities generating all those dollars for the rocks and salesmen were eliciting screams from the "Silent World", how was it that a second-generation icon of marine conservation could offer environmental blessing anyway, in exchange for large sums of money? Unfortunately for Jean-Michel, DEMA begged poverty and turned down his business proposition because, "DEMA is currently not in a position financially to take advantage of this opportunity". Still, all was not lost; DEMA's Board of Directors decided that, "DEMA may be able to use him on a project by project basis, such as Project Yukon, the Fish-Feeding initiative, and the L.A. County ordinance" (dare we ask what the Yukon and L.A. County assaults on DEMA were, and how they were resolved?). Even more exciting, "DEMA could offer Mr. Cousteau an honorary seat on the Board of Directors". "What?", I can hear Jean-Michel screaming - "do you think I am in this eco-shakedown thing for my health or something?" DOUBLE DIPPINGTo make matters worse, I then heard that Jean-Michel was also on the Board of Directors of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, served as host at NOAA's kickoff of the International Year of the Ocean, and was a member of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council. In other words, Jean-Michel was all over NOAA like a hungry octopus on Stingray City leftovers. This raises a disturbing question. What's that, you ask? What's wrong with the same individual deeply entangled with a regulatory agency (NOAA/ National Marine Sanctuaries Program) offering his services (for a hefty price) to promote "whatever activities" those being regulated want promoted? As Bob Dylan put it, "Man, how come you have to ask me that?" Others have also questioned Jean-Michel's penchant for exploiting the family name to his own financial ends, not the least of whom was his famous father. Dad took him to court in 1995 to try to force him to rename his new "Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort" to something that would prevent the public from confusing Jean-Michel's hotel development schemes with the "real" Cousteau, or the Cousteau Society. Looks like Jean-Michel is up to his snorkel in what's politely known as "double dipping". But hey, it's not that uncommon, nor is it in most cases illegal. It just would seem that in this particular case the line between "sincere" and "sleaze" does at times get pretty thin indeed. Would the real "Jean-Michel" please stand up? I think maybe Jacques had twins, but didn't tell anyone. | 
