The Calypso, once used to destroy coral reefs, will make a return to the ocean

[kelemvor]

https://www.deeperblue.com/cousteaus-calypso-gets-a-new-lease-on-life/

The Calypso, that was once used to destroy reefs around the blue hole, is being returned to the sea again. It hasn't yet been stated if the Cousteau Society's uses will be as awful as the original owners'. Hopefully, a few lessons have been learned in the time that has passed.

 

[Storker]

It hasn't yet been stated if the Cousteau Society's uses will be as awful as the original owners'. Hopefully, a few lessons have been learned in the time that has passed.

I'd be very surprised if not.

Yes, some of the things JYC and his crew did are not acceptable by today's standards. However, both JYC and his crew were children of their time, and society is steadily progressing. Why on earth should the Cousteau Society work by the standards of the 40s, 50s and 60s?

 

[OldNSalty]

https://www.deeperblue.com/cousteaus-calypso-gets-a-new-lease-on-life/

The Calypso, that was once used to destroy reefs around the blue hole, is being returned to the sea again. It hasn't yet been stated if the Cousteau Society's uses will be as awful as the original owners'. Hopefully, a few lessons have been learned in the time that has passed.

That’s rather a ridiculous statement. I hope that once renovations are completed on Andrew Jackson’s former estate that they don’t return to slavery.

 

[John A Lewis]

It will be interesting to see what use they put it to. My guess is that it will become a floating museum, since it seems that it is almost ready made for that purpose.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

It's a new take on the same old issue that gets discussed from time to time.

A better example was JYC's insistence on using flares to explore caves instead of the electric lights, introducing all kinds of chemical pollutants into pristine cave systems. Flares were familiar and they fit an image he was trying to project - being "green" on an individual level was not high on the list of priorities, despite his constant messaging of how countries, businesses and societies were polluting the ocean on a macro level.

I think damaging or outright blowing up a few coral heads to get Calypso to the blue hole he wanted to film was probably considered to be worth the ecological cost in terms of the image he could create on film of the Calypso being there, and the larger audience he hoped to attract to sell his larger conservation message.

You see all kinds of examples of behaviors in the diving films and documentaries from the 50s, 60s and 70s that we don't find acceptable today as practices, values and priorities have changed.

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And let's not forget to apply that to our own diving. For example, the sum total of damage done by Calypso in that episode, pales in comparison to the damage that gets done by the sum total of individual divers with poor buoyancy and trim roto tilling their way over reefs in any given week. The individual damage is just less noticeable, and given that it's cumulative damage, no one holds them self accountable for their individual share of the total carnage.

I made one of the local shop employees and college scuba club members mad several months ago when they posted a picture of a local college scuba club swimming as a group over a reef with the school flag. I commented on the poor trim (they were all angled down about 45 degrees) and damage to the reef they were over. To me, the picture was't worth the reef damage, and I'd personally prefer not to be on film demonstrating such poor technique. The shop employee felt differently and was offended that I saw it as a negative.

I regard the OPs post in potentially much the same way.

Unless the OP is skilled in the water with good trim and buoyancy, it's potentially a case of the pot calling the kettle black and choosing to vilify more visible macro instances of damage, but not putting the same focus on individual level damage.

Personally, for all his faults, I cut JYC and the Cousteau Society as a whole an awful lot of slack. JYC inspired an entire generation of people to become divers and he raised awareness of what was in the sea and developed support for environmental concerns that far outweighed the sum total of damage he may have caused over the years by several orders of magnitude.

 

[trapezus]

L'Equipe Cousteau annonce un accord pour refaire naviguer la Calypso, à l'abandon à Concarneau - France 3 Bretagne

We are working to remove the boat from Concarneau within three months. Our goal is to completely repair the ship and that renavigue to be the ambassador of the oceans as was the commander," he told AFP the Cousteau. "We estimate that it will take 12-18 months to be able to navigate the Calypso. The possible operators for this project were contacted," says the association, after posting the information on its Internet website and Facebook.

The ship is in a hangar Piriou site, interrupted his rehabilitation from a legal dispute. In December 2014, the court had issued a ruling requiring the association to move Calypso before March 12, 2015 and to pay the balance Piriou work due or nearly 300,000 euros.

The Cousteau Society had then suggested that the ship could be exposed to Monaco, on water or dry, while the shipyard threatened to sell the ship at auction.

"Finally, the Cousteau Society has managed to put around the same table generous and highly motivated international patrons," says on its website the association. "When Calypso return in the Mediterranean, it will be sailing and powered by its own engines, as desired by Jacques Cousteau," added Francine Cousteau, second wife of the explorer and President of The Cousteau Society.

The site provides Piriou in a statement it will "do everything possible to allow removal of the Calypso hangar in the best conditions", however, saying that he was not informed of the proposed withdrawal of the vessel during the first quarter. He confirmed however in December have received the amounts due by the association.

 

[USdiver1]

The Calypso, that was once used to destroy reefs around the blue hole, is being returned to the sea again. It hasn't yet been stated if the Cousteau Society's uses will be as awful as the original owners'. Hopefully, a few lessons have been learned in the time that has passed.

Show a little respect for the inventor of scuba, whose underwater cinematography not only earned him Oscars and fame, but brought the undersea world into the knowledge of the general population, and started humanity's concern for the marine ecology and preservation.

 

[Luis H]

In a recent post you made the statement basically acknowledging that you didn’t know anything about US Divers.
Post number 28: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/520198-my-friend-says-mares-regulators-arent-good-true.html

I am thinking that you probably do not know much about Cousteau, the Calypso, or the history of Scuba diving.

https://www.deeperblue.com/cousteaus-calypso-gets-a-new-lease-on-life/

The Calypso, that was once used to destroy reefs around the blue hole, is being returned to the sea again. It hasn't yet been stated if the Cousteau Society's uses will be as awful as the original owners'. Hopefully, a few lessons have been learned in the time that has passed.

Based on this statement I would strongly recommend that you do a bit of research on: the history of Scuba diving, the history of JYC (Jacques Yves Cousteau) , the history of ocean conservation and environmental movements, the history of US Divers and the history of the “Aqua Lung”. You will be surprised how all this subjects are tied together and the relationships between them.

There is no question that times have changed. Marine biologist used to use explosives to get a fish count on the reef. It was believed that the ocean was an infinite resource. At first, Cousteau probably believed that also, but he was able to observed firsthand the damage we have done. You will be surprised how much Cousteau helped in promoting ocean conservation.

Cousteau had many flaws, but I think you will also be surprised about his many contributions.

 

[drbill]

https://www.deeperblue.com/cousteaus-calypso-gets-a-new-lease-on-life/

The Calypso, that was once used to destroy reefs around the blue hole, is being returned to the sea again. It hasn't yet been stated if the Cousteau Society's uses will be as awful as the original owners'. Hopefully, a few lessons have been learned in the time that has passed.

While there is truth to this, to judge the action of the Captain and the crew of the Calypso using the standards of today is totally unfair. You might as well judge the Founding Fathers who owned slaves at the same time they were writing the documents that created this country. Actually, you'd probably have more grounds to do that.

The world of the 50s and 60s was far different in its understanding of the environment. I know... I was there myself and teaching marine ecology in the late 60s. Cousteau himself undoubtedly criticized his early, uninformed actions. However, it is through contributions of men like him that so many of us who dive today and enjoy the marine environment came to a better understanding of it. I had the privilege of working on a Cousteau documentary back in the 1980s although I was with Jean-Michel's team and the Alcyone. Judge the man by the understanding of the period, not by today's standards. And spend some time looking at what he and the Calypso (and Alcyone) achieved in later years when their understanding was more refined.

Yes, the actions taken early on caused harm... but people learn from mistakes, especially when they are pioneers in the field. As for someone with less than 200 dives (and over 1,600 posts) criticizing the Captain, maybe your mistakes have yet to be acknowledged.

 

[KathyV]

When I was young I loved to watch the Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, I learned so much about a world that had been completely unknown to me. I felt much the same way about the exploration of space that was being pioneered in that same time period.

When I was still young I read a book by JYC called "Diving for Sunken Treasure" (see the link below) and I thought that it was absolutely great. They didn't actually find treasure but I thought that the whole process of excavating a shipwreck was thrilling. I remember that over and over in the book Jacques kept bemoaning the fact that there were destroying sections of coral reef to get at the wreck.

I remember thinking "So you are destroying some coral, big deal! You're looking for treasure!" (Forgive me because I didn't know what I was saying!)

Nowadays we don't wear gloves and we don't touch the coral but JYC was one of the great pioneers who helped us evolve and develop a greater respect for the precious and delicate marine environment.

Diving for Sunken Treasure (The Undersea Discoveries of Jacques-Yves Cousteau): Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Philippe Diole, J. F. Bernard: 9780304938407: Amazon.com: Books