Jean-Michel Cousteau: 'We are All Connected'

Jean-Michel Cousteau, who has lived most of his life submerged in the vastness of the world’s oceans, believes the key to saving our marine life is knowledge. Cousteau, in one of the most poignant presentations at Tulane Law School in recent memory, made a significant adjustment to the legacy of his legendary father, Jacques Cousteau, who said people would save what they loved. For the younger Cousteau, the heart is only part of it. The world must understand that which they cannot see: The intricately-connected ecosystems of the world’s waterways, which continue to suffer under man’s neglect. “For me, it is about education. People cannot save what they don’t understand,” Cousteau, a few months shy of his 80th birthday, said during an hour-long lecture at Tulane Law’s Summit on Environmental Law and Policy. “We are all connected. We have no borders. It is an exciting time now because I believe the decision-makers of the future are in this room, and in our classrooms today.”

 “We have to show them.  I show them my videos of the people of Alaska who’ve seen ice turn to water year-round. I show them how our shorelines are shrinking. I show the dead coral reefs in Florida. I talk to them, and show them.”