In the first attempt ever to return a captive orca to the wild, in 1999 Jean-Michel merged three non-profit organizations to form Ocean Futures Society to continue research and care for Keiko, the captive killer whale of “Free Willy” film fame. Jean-Michel was also appointed to the Board of Directors of the Athens Environmental Foundation for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, mandated to design and support projects that will improve the environment in Greece and beyond. In February 2002, he became the first person to represent the Environment in the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, joining luminaries including Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Africa), John Glenn (The Americas), Kazuyoshi Funaki (Asia), Lech Walesa (Europe), Cathy Freeman (Oceania), Jean-Claude Killy (Sport), and Steven Spielberg (Culture).
Jean-Michel Cousteau has both created and been recognized for many “firsts” in a variety of endeavors. He is dedicated to educating young people, documenting stories of change and hope, and lending his reputation and support to energize alliances for positive change. The President was inspired and in June 2006, he declared the 1,200-mile chain of islands a Marine National Monument-at the time the largest marine protected areas in the world.Īs Chairman of the Board and President of Ocean Futures Society, Jean-Michel travels the world, meeting with leaders and policymakers at the grassroots level and at the highest echelons of government and businesses. In 2006, Jean-Michel’s initiative to protect the Northwest Hawaiian Islands took him to The White House where he screened his PBS-KQED documentary, Voyage to Kure, for President George W. Narrated by Arnold Schwarzenegger and starring Jean-Michel, his two adult children, Céline and Fabien and Jean-Michel’s team this adventure takes viewers to beautiful locations around the world, including Fiji, California, Sea of Cortez, Bahamas and the Mediterranean Sea. Jean-Michel newest feature film, “Wonders of the Sea,” uncovers the complexities of our interconnected world of life in the oceans and shows us how we are all asked to safeguard the future of our water planet. And today ‘Secret Ocean 3D’ continues to be screened in over fifty theaters around the world. In 2015, Jean-Michel released his first IMAX film, “Secret Ocean 3D”. Reaching millions of people globally through Ocean Futures Society, Jean-Michel continues to produce environmentally oriented adventure programs and television specials, public service announcements, multi-media programs for schools, web-based marine content, books, articles for magazines, newspaper columns, and public lectures. In 1989, he became a syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times where his articles appeared in over sixty newspapers worldwide. Jean-Michel has produced over 80 films, received the Emmy, the Peabody Award, the Sept d’Or, and the Cable Ace Award. With Jean-Michel’s lifetime of achievements and exemplary public service in ocean conservation through education, awareness, and diplomacy, he was honored with the highest French civilian order of distinction, the Chevalier de la Légion D’Honneur, Knight of the Legion of Honor from the President of France, François Hollande in May 2016. As Ocean Futures Society’s spokesman, Jean-Michel serves as an impassioned diplomat for the environment, reaching out to the public through a variety of media and educational programs. Ocean Futures Society, a non-profit marine conservation and education organization, serves as a “Voice for the Ocean” by communicating in all media the critical bond between people and the sea and the importance of wise environmental policy. Honoring his heritage, Jean-Michel founded Ocean Futures Society in 1999 to carry on this pioneering work.
The son of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel has investigated the world’s oceans aboard Calypso and Alcyone for much of his life. Since first being “thrown overboard” by his father at the age of seven with newly invented SCUBA gear on his back, Jean-Michel has been exploring the ocean realm. For more than four decades, Jean-Michel Cousteau has dedicated himself and his vast experience to communicate to people of all nations and generations his love and concern for our water planet.
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