Jacques-Yves Cousteau – the Master of the Deep
Jacques Cousteau, the renowned underwater explorer, revealed to the world the marvelous universe of the oceans which he explored for about forty years. 

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born at Saint-André-de-Cubzac, near Bordeaux (south-western France) on June 11, 1910. Although he was a sickly child, he loved to swim. His first diving experience was at the age of ten in Lake Harvey, VT. He had an affinity not only to water but also to machines. In his early teen years, he saved up some money and bought a home movie camera. Later, Jacques served in the French Navy where he began his underwater explorations. In 1943, he and Emile Gagnan invented the “aqualung” which gave the diver absolute freedom of movement. He started his film career with “The Silent World” (1956) and “World Without Sun (1966) both of which won Academy Awards for best documentaries. He wrote three books -  “The Living Sea”, “Dolphins” and “Jacques Cousteau: The Ocean World”. In 1968, Jacques started making his television series called “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau” which acquainted the public with the secrets of the ocean realm. He soon established the Cousteau Society whose aim was to protect ocean environment. Because of his campaigns promoting protection of the Planet, media nicknamed him “Captain Planet”. He died on June 25, 1997.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a great educator to the whole world. With his inventions and underwater experiments, he contributed significantly to the science of oceanography. Through his films and books he taught people how to benefit from saving the environment. He remained forever in the hearts of millions of people.

Jacques Mayol – the Legendary Free Diver
Jacques Mayol is a sea explorer and a widely-popular diver who is acknowledged for his thorough work in the field of breath-hold diving. His life is described in the film “The Big Blue” produced in 1988. He is famous for his historic dive of 100 meters (330 feet) in 1976 with which he set a world record! He was the first to reach the 100-meter-frontier without air reservoirs.

Jacques Mayol was born in China in the family of French parents. Now, he lives in Italy. He spent a part of his life in Japan. During the medical and scientific research phase of his career, which lasted from 1976 to 1983, he set new world records exceeding 100 meters. Mayol’s book “ dolphinus” (it comes from Latin and it means “the dolphin within the man”) reflect his thoughts about the natural relationships between man, oceans and dolphins. Do humans have aquatic origins and how these affected the physiological training? This book had an international success and has become the bible for all free divers.