[CINC] Ocean Icon Jean-Michel Cousteau Receives Life Time Achievement Award

[Shauna Bingham]

For Immediate Release*                                                  *

June 4, 
2008                                                                 

*Ocean Icon Jean-Michel Cousteau Receives Life Time Achievement Award 
 From National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
 *

*Washington**, D.C., June 3, 2008 -- *In recognition of his life-long 
commitment and global influence on the appreciation of our ocean planet 
and its stewardship, and the establishment of the Papahanaumokuakea 
National Marine Monument in the N.W. Hawaiian Islands, Jean-Michel 
Cousteau was honored by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation at 
their Annual Leadership Awards Dinner on June 3 in Washington, D.C.

 "Whether you ask a sixty-year old or a six-year old, they have 
experienced the ocean through the works of Jean-Michel." said Bob 
Talbot, Chairman of the Foundation's Board of Trustees and celebrated 
photographer and film maker.  "He has helped establish public awareness 
and compassion for our ocean planet in a way that transcends global 
boundaries and generations, inspiring people to care about the 
stewardship of our ocean life."

Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the famous Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau, 
has been educating and influencing generations of ocean advocates and 
would-be explorers around the world.  Well ahead of his time, as a 
trained architect, Jean-Michel's designs embraced what has now become 
common-place in the architectural world of 'Green Design'.  Although 
significant, his land-based career would be short lived, returning to 
the sea in the late 1960s where he began organizing and documenting the 
now famous ocean travels aboard the /Calypso/.  Jean-Michel has been 
revisiting some of these famous travels - documenting the changes over 
time that have resulted from human impacts.  Through Jean-Michel 
Cousteau's Ocean Futures Society his PBS Ocean Adventures documentary in 
2006, /Voyage to Kure/, inspired President George W. Bush to designate 
the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as the first National Marine Monument.

"I've always believed real change comes from the heart.  To make real 
change, you must appeal to the heart.  That's what I have always tried 
to do through my films -- inspire curiosity and a sense of 
responsibility through the heart," said Cousteau.

Repeatedly nominated for Emmy awards and winner of the prestigious 
Peabody Award for his documentary work on the Mississippi, Jean-Michel 
has produced over eighty-five television specials and continues his work 
as executive producer, film-maker and explorer of marine and ocean 
issues.  Traveling the globe to lecture to tens of thousands of students 
on ocean issues, Jean-Michel and his team are dedicating all of their 
energies to guiding the Ocean Futures Society into one powerful "Voice 
for the Ocean."

The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation's Leadership Awards Dinner is 
held in conjunction with the 2008 Capitol Hill Ocean Week, a three-day 
symposium that features ocean policy experts from government, private 
industry, nonprofits and academia.  Participants seek to raise awareness 
of the important ocean and coastal issues among our nation's leaders and 
to build bridges among various ocean constituencies.

The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is the private, non-profit 
partner to the federally managed National Marine Sanctuary Program. It 
was created to inspire all people to preserve, protect and promote our 
nationwide network of marine sanctuaries. The 14 sites within the 
national marine sanctuary system protect oceans and great lakes from the 
Florida Keys to the Hawaiian Islands and from Lake Huron to the Gulf of 
Mexico. Learn more at www.NMSFocean.org <http://www.NMSFocean.org>.

###
 

*/Note to editors:/* Photos available by visiting www.nmsfoceans.org 
<http://www.nmsfoceans.org>.

-- 
Shauna Bingham 
Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator
NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
3600 S. Harbor Blvd. #111
Oxnard, CA 93035
Shauna.Bingham at noaa.gov
(805) 382-6149 ext. 102
Fax (805) 382-9791
http://channelislands.noaa.gov

´¯`·.¸¸..><((((º>·´¯`·.¸¸..><((((º>·´¯`·.¸¸..><((((º>·´¯`·.¸¸..

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