There was a considerable buzz in the air Thursday as a sold out audience converged on the Center for the Arts to see ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau.
Son of the late legendary explorer Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel's message was one that focused on using the current communication revolution to improve the environment. This latest installment in UB's 20th Annual
Distinguished Speakers Series was the Graduate
Student Association's guest of choice.
Cousteau has recently visited global destinations such as Hawaii and the Amazon, eager to spread awareness on environmental issues. He hopes to develop solutions through education and gathering knowledge in his travels.
As part of his lecture, Cousteau presented videos of his oceanic expeditions, one of which showed the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands that hold cultural significance to the indigenous people. The islands are covered in litter, such as sports balls, computer screens and drink bottles.
"We are all represented there, on the islands where nobody lives," Cousteau said. "There is garbage from 52 different countries and is unnecessary - nobody wins."
Cousteau's video documentary of the waste on these islands was shown to President George W. Bush during a private screening at the White House. After viewing the graphic footage, Bush made the series of islands a marine sanctuary, now called the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument. It is the largest single protected area on the planet, spanning 140,000 square miles.
The videos lend themselves to Cousteau's conclusions about modern communication. He said the Earth is experiencing a communications revolution that should drive people to network and find solutions to problems like the ones that existed in Hawaii.
"With the tools that we have today, which we all take for granted, we have the ability to communicate with everyone on the planet," he said. "People are going to have to change their way of doing things."
According to Cousteau, society has to treat the environment like it is capital, capital that humans can benefit from like any other good or asset.
"You can live off the interest that is produced by the capital. The minute you go beyond that, you (are) gobbling up the capital, you go bankrupt," he said.
Cousteau's ideas resonated with audience members, especially Ignacio Echavarria, a graduate engineering student who said that Cousteau's lecture pushed him to check out what he can do for the environment individually.
"Overall it was very good," Echavarria said. "I think he is a good speaker."
Another audience member shared similar feelings after the lecture. Local resident Alex Piaseccny called it "informative." Piaseccny also enjoyed seeing younger people, such as Cousteau's children, on the expeditions so that the future of the environmental operation would not be sacrificed.
"It's nice to know that there are people like him making a difference in the world and progress is being made," Piaseccny said.
Cousteau closed his lecture with a story about visiting the Amazon with his father some years ago. While they were on a voyage there, they attempted to protect an animal. When it came time to leave, they both had fell in love with it but could not bring it along. After releasing the animal into the wild, Jacques explained to his son how people must protect what they love.
A standing ovation demonstrated how Cousteau's overall message of hope resounded in the audience.
"We're going to have problems, and we're going to resolve them," Cousteau said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
