J Cousteau Documentary on Disney Channel

[Compressor]

On National Geographic Channel ( I saw it on Disney +) there is a well done documentary called "Becoming Cousteau."
It is well done with lots of historical footage. Of course some of the things they did in those days would raise eyebrows today. Example hitching a hike on a turtle or standing on one on land as it moves.

It also shows very early and historical dive equipment.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Bob Hollis was diving in the Blue Hole when JYC blew up part of the reef to bring in his boat.

 

[Craigpk]

Looking forward to watching it !!

 

[chris kippax]

National Geographic are some of the worst documentaires I have ever seen. They come across as if they are made for kids. I will check this one out, hopefully it is better than the usual tripe.
I Find BBC docementaries much more intelligently made.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Jean-Michelle in his book "My Father the Captain" addresses some of the things they did and admits that not only are they wrong today, but they were wrong then. His father also admitted after the fact on several occasions that they made many mistakes in that era.

 

[KathyV]

It was a different time and sometimes it's hard to imagine nowadays - but people just looked at things differently back then and they often didn't know any better - or give it any thought. I'm not saying that's right but that's just the way it was.

I remember a time when some divers considered it "just good fun" to do things like grab a puffer to make it expand and then try to play volley ball underwater with the poor creature. It also wasn't uncommon for divers to try and ride on a sea turtle or to sit inside giant barrel sponges to pose for pictures. Dynamiting coral reefs for ease of navigation probably wasn't an uncommon practice either.

Most ordinary citizens didn't start paying any attention to the environment until the 1970s and it took a long time before environmental protection measures started to become commonplace practices. I know that JY Cousteau did some shocking things during his earlier days of UW exploration but he learned and changed, and eventually he became a champion for conservation.

I mostly appreciate Jacques Cousteau because he helped to introduce the world to the underwater realm because it was largely unknown back then.