Life and Death in a Coral Sea: The Undersea Discoveries of Jacques-Yves Cousteau

302 pp. With 122 photographs in full color. "Jacques-Yves Cousteau name is synonymous with underwater exploration. As indeed it should be. In the middle of the Second World War, Cousteau solved a problem that had restricted humans to the ocean's surface - or to where a person could dive on one long breath - since the beginning. Along with Emile Gagnan, he invited the "Aqua-Lung," or, as it is more commonly called, the underwater regulator - a devise that can deliver air to the diver at the ambient pressure of the surrounding war. With some French government funding, they managed to acquire a suitable vessel for diving, and scientific exploration, the "Calypso," which was an American made mine sweeper which had been flagged to the British, and was deemed "surplus." This book is an account of the year-long journey of the Calypso, from March, 1967 to February, 1968. The journey covered some of the best, and most varied tropical diving in the world. It commenced in Monaco, where Cousteau was associated with the "Musée Océanographique." They entered the Red Sea, traveling and diving its length, went passed the Yemeni island of Socotra, on to the Maldives, then back to the Seychelles, Mombasa in Kenya, and back up into the Red Sea. They got caught by the Six Day War between Israeli and the Arab countries. The Suez Canal would be closed for a number of years, so they went south again, to Madagascar. A comprehensive and essential itinerary for underwater exploration. This was a period of time when sports diving was in its infancy, and there were very few "diving resorts," certainly none in the areas that the Calypso sailed. They had some rather sophisticated equipment for the time, including a mini-sub that could descend to 1000 ft., a decompression chamber for "the bends," cages to protect them from sharks, an underwater scooter, state-of-the-art camera equipment and Cousteau even had his son, Phillippe, become certified as a hot-air balloonist so that he could guide."