Cousteau brought the wonders of the ocean into millions of living rooms with his books, movies and television programs. His documentary The Silent World, with Louis Malle as an underwater photographer, was based on his book and won a 1957 Oscar — the first of four. His television series include The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau and Those Amazing Animals.

Jacques Cousteau spent most of his adult life promoting the conservation of the oceans. In 1950, he became the President of the French Oceanic Campaigns and in 1957 he was named the director of the Oceanographic Institute and Museum of Monaco. In 1974 he established the Cousteau Society, which now has over 300,000 members worldwide . Jacques Cousteau died on June 25, 1997