Jacket

1. JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU Explorer, environmental- ISBN 0-9790852-1-7
ist, educator, film producer–-over four decades, Jean-
Michel Cousteau has used his vast experience to
communicate to people of all nations and generations
america’s
america’s underwater treasures
COUSTEAU
his love and concern for our water planet.
Jean-Michel has produced over 80 films and is cur-
rently the executive producer of Jean-Michel Cousteau’s
Ocean Adventures, a 14-part series launched in 2006
with KQED, a PBS-affiliate. America’s Underwater
Treasures is a two-hour special within this series. Jean-
underwater treasures
Michel has been awarded the Emmy, the Peabody Award, the 7 d'Or, and the
Cable Ace Award, among other tributes. In April 2006, Jean-Michel was invited
to screen Voyage to Kure, the first film of the Ocean Adventures series, for JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU
President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, Governor Linda Lingle of
Hawaii, and other dignitaries at The White House. The President was so moved
that on June 15, 2006 he declared the 1,200-mile chain of the Northwestern
Hawaii islands as a Marine National Monument—the largest protected area in
the world, larger than all the National Parks of the United States combined.
Through Ocean Futures Society, Jean-Michel continues to produce televi-
america’s underwater treasures
sion specials, public service announcements, multi-media programs for
schools, Ambassadors of the Environment and Sustainable Reefs programs,
books, articles for magazines, websites and newspaper columns, and public
lectures, reaching millions of people globally.
JULIE ROBINSON As a marine ecologist, technical
diver, licensed captain, science and natural history doc-
umentary producer, Julie’s work has taken her around
the world from Indonesia to Central America, the
Caribbean and New Caledonia. She has produced tele-
vision projects for PBS, National Geographic, the United
Nations Environment Programme and her work has
been recognized with a CINE Golden Eagle Award.
Working with Jean-Michel on the two Treasures
projects she says, “was a special privilege.” With
a laugh she adds, “Before we knew it, we were navigating this incredible
production, witnesses to an entire paradigm shift happening in marine conser-
vation. It really caught us by surprise, all of us except Jean-Michel.”
Julie was introduced to the ocean at a young age on family station wagon
expeditions across the Sonoran Desert to Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. It was the
beginning of a life-long fascination with the ocean that continues to inspire
her creative and scientific interests in environmental media.
When she’s not in the field, Julie makes her home in Santa Barbara,
California, with her husband, fellow diver and captain, Gary Sullivan. co-author JULIE ROBINSON
CARRIE VONDERHAAR The first breath Carrie photographer CARRIE VONDERHAAR
Vonderhaar took under water in the Red Sea, she says,
“ . . . changed my life. From that moment I knew that
I wanted to merge my love of photography with my JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU founded Ocean Futures Society in
©M ELANIE BESS HOGAN
passion for scuba diving.”
Carrie tells her friends, “I love every second of being
1999 to carry forward and expand on the pioneering work that
on expedition. It’s a dream and an honor to be working his father, Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau, instilled in him.
alongside the most amazing film crew in the most
Ocean Futures Society, a non-profit marine conservation and
amazing studio–-the water!”
Carrie racked up many “firsts” on the America’s education organization, serves as a voice for the ocean by com-
Underwater Treasures expedition. She was the first woman to dive Cordell Bank municating in all media the critical bond between people and the
on a closed-circuit rebreather, and the first woman to work with Jean-Michel
as both a topside and underwater camera operator. She is also the only mem- water system and the importance of wise environmental policy.
ber of the team to dive in and photograph all 13 National Marine Sanctuaries. The mission of Ocean Futures Society is to explore our global
She has traveled extensively, photographing her journeys around the world
ocean, inspiring and educating people throughout the world to
to Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, Egypt, North Africa, North, Central and
South America. act responsibly for its protection, documenting the critical con-
Carrie has four godchildren, Haley, Victoria, Alex, and Bede, and when
she’s not on expedition, makes her home in Santa Barbara, California.
Published by Ocean Futures Society
jean-michel cousteau nection between humanity and nature, and celebrating the
ocean’s vital importance to the survival of all life on our planet.
“Protect The Ocean And You Protect Yourself.”
325 Chapala Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA
A longnose hawkfish perches on endangered black coral, often treasured
www.oceanfutures.org
as jewelry and dangerous to collect, found at 135 feet in the Hawaiian Islands
Jacket design by Elizabeth M. Watson Cover photographs © Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society co-author J U LI E R O B I N S O N photographer CA R R I E V O N D E R H A A R Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.