Jacques Cousteau is perhaps one of the greatest scientists of all time. He was an outstanding underwater explorer, conservationist, photographer and filmmaker. The deep blue sea and its many inhabitants fueled his passion to take his career to amazing limits. Now his granddaughter, Alexandra Cousteau, has followed in his footsteps. She promotes the importance of conservation, recovery and sustainable management of water resources for a healthy planet and a productive society.
Joining with Oceana, the largest international ocean conservation and advocacy organization, Alexandra plays a key role as one of their senior advisors. She is on a new mission to continue her grandfather's legacy. Taking part in the diving expedition, she will assist Oceana to promote the enlargement of Cabrera National Marine Park in the Mediterranean to the south of the island of Majorca in the Balearic Islands.
Together, Alexandra and the organization will take images of the seabed to promote the enlargement of the protected area. In Alexandra's own words, "“When my grandfather, Jacques Cousteau, visited the island three decades ago, he expressed his concern that it would be too late to protect it. But now we know that the sea can recover if we act in time and we have the duty to preserve areas which were previously unknown or whose significance went unnoticed”.
Cabrera National Marine Park is enriched with so many astonishing ecosystems and magnificent underwater species. There are close to 300 species requiring protection. If you were to plan a dive within this wonderland, you would thrill to black coral, red coral, knobbed triton, a kelp forest and so much more that can only be found in this part of the world. Red, green and brown algae is seen in its glory. Undersea caves shelter a multitude of captivating fish and crustaceans. It has been found that 25 to 30% of the marine species found in this area are not found anywhere else in the world.
Enlarging this breathtaking marine environment would be a victory not only for Oceana and Cousteau's initiative but for all advocates across the globe that support universal oceanic conservation and preservation.
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