Jean-Michel Cousteau
brought to you by Seachem
With DFWMAS hosting this year’s MACNA (the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America), we have the unique opportunity to make it memorable. Each year, the host club tries to raise the bar, and we are doing that this September.Saturday night during the gala dinner, the keynote speaker educates & entertains (edu-tains?) the audience for about an hour. Over the years, divers, photographers, aqua-culturers, film-makers and authors have all spoken. What could top those previous experiences? Who was uniquely qualified? We wanted a big name, someone epic, and very recognizable. I grew up learning about the oceans with Jaques Cousteau... which then lead me to his son Jean-Michel Cousteau. Googling his biography, the idea that he could be speaking at our MACNA got my heart racing. His first push (literally) was a dive at age 7, and his passion for marine life ignited. The underwater world fascinated him, and his life’s focus became the preservation of our oceans. Like his father, Jean- Michel has dedicated decades of his life to educating everyone about what lies beneath, and why it matters to each one of us. His syndicated column in the Los Angeles Times was but one method he employed.
If you saw the Free Willy movies, you may have fallen in love with Keiko, the killer whale that filled the screen and entertained millions worldwide. He was released back into the wild in 2002, thanks to both the Free Willy Keiko Foundation and Ocean Futures Society, formed by Jean-Michel Cousteau.
His documentaries have moved people to action. George W. Bush was so inspired by Voyage to Kure that he created one of the largest marine protected areas, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. This protected zone houses 7000 species, including a significant amount of endemic animals to the Hawaiian islands. Reefs, atolls and deep water habitats alike are within the 140,000 square miles, so that future generations have the opportunity to enjoy them too.
He’s a film maker, and has received multiple prestigious awards. Appearing in many of his films, his productions have opened our eyes to what many of us can’t explore personally. And yet there is much to accomplish, as the oceans are still not fully mapped, while ironically the moon has been. His documentaries explore underwater life, the very thing upon which our hobby is based.
Jean-Michel has done interviews from the watery deep as well as from the space station orbiting Earth. This year, he’ll be speaking in Texas, thanks in big part to our friends at Seachem. We promised things are bigger in Texas, and nothing will be bigger than our gala dinner! In MACNA’s history, never before have we had a speaker of this caliber, and you have the unique opportunity to meet this amazing underwater explorer Saturday night, September 29 2012. Learn more about his life’s work, and embrace his views toward to the future for the corals and fish we hold so dear and the oceans which encircle our earth.
Register now as seating is limited for the Gala, and attend the most memorable MACNA ever. The current price ( full conference including the opportunity to hear Jean-Michel Cousteau’s presentation) is $129 until June 30, 2012. http://www.dfwmacna.com/attendees/register/
We would like to thank Seachem and Marineland and all of our other sponsors for their incredible support for this year’s MACNA.
Additional Reading:
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s biography: http://www.oceanfutures.org/about/jean-michel-cousteau
Ocean Futures Society: http://www.oceanfutures.org/
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