Jean-Michel Cousteau

Explorer, film producer, educator. Environmentalist and oceanlover.

The son of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel spent much of his life with his family exploring the worlds oceans aboard his ships. Honoring his heritage, Jean-Michel founded Ocean Futures Society in 1999 to carry on this pioneering work.

Explorer, environmentalist, educator, film producer - for more than four decades Jean-Michel Cousteau has used his vast experiences to communicate to people of all nations and generations his love and concern for our water planet.

As Executive Vice President of The Cousteau Society for nearly 20 years, and now as Founder and President of Ocean Futures Society, Jean-Michel travels the globe, meeting with leaders and policymakers at the grassroots level and at the highest echelons of government and business. 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.

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. As Ocean Futures’ leader, Jean-Michel serves as an impassioned diplomat for the environment, reaching out to the public through a variety of media.

Jean-Michel has produced over 75 films, received the Emmy, the Peabody Award, the 7 dOr, and the Cable Ace Award. In partnership with KQED, a PBS affiliate, Jean-Michel is Executive Producer of "Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Adventures," a six-part television series airing in 2006 on PBS and internationally.

Through Ocean Futures Society, Jean-Michel continues to produce environmentally oriented programs and television specials, public service announcements, multi-media programs for schools, web-based marine content, books, articles for magazines and newspaper columns, and public lectures, reaching millions of people globally. He is the editor and contributing author of Water Culture, a collection of photographs and interviews calling attention to the global issues of water. In 2004, he authored My Father, the Captain, his depiction of life as the son of Jacques Cousteau.


Acting on a childhood dream to build cities under the sea, Jean-Michel pursued a degree in architecture, graduating from the Paris School of Architecture in 1964. He remains a member of the Ordre National des Architectes, the French counterpart of the American Institute of Architects. Artificial floating islands, schools, and an advanced marine studies center in Marseille, France, are among his projects.