Cousteau's son enlists help of divers to monitor world's oceans

Steve Newborn -

The health of the world's oceans has been a concern for undersea pioneer Jacques Cousteau ever since he invented scuba gear in the 1940s.

Today, Cousteau's youngest son enlisted the help of the nation's divers.

At first glance, the resemblance between Pierre-Yves Cousteau and his famous father is unmistakeable - he's got the same long, lean face and aquline nose - as well as a passion for preserving the health of the seas.

Now, the younger Cousteau wants some help in monitoring what he says is sharp decline in the ecology of the deep.

"If we get people all over the world - divers reporting their observations of marine life - we can have a near real-time diagnostic," he says.

"Near real-time monitoring of the health of the oceans worldwide. This would be extremely helpful, because then we could react to problems like an immune system, as soon as there's a problem somewhere."

Cousteau told an audience at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg that our survival as a species is intimately connected about preserving the numbers of fish and marine life that lie just below the surface.

"Often, we don't realize how our survival is connected to the health of the ocean," he says. "And how protecting the ocean is more than just sentimental charity or environmental arrogance.

It's about survival. It's about our survival as a species on this planet - and further than that, our well being."

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