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The ocean may seem like a far-flung place from home, but its destruction directly impacts our daily lives. One man is using scuba diving to increase awareness about this matter, inviting people to take part in an exciting activity to save our water planet. Corinna Bellizzi chats with explorer, environmentalist, and educator Jean-Michel Cousteau about his work with the Ocean Future Society, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to exploring and preserving the underwater world. He discusses what it takes for society to do better in saving the ocean without causing further pollution and destruction. Jean-Michel also invites everyone to his upcoming Santa Barbara event celebrating his over seven decades of scuba diving and ocean exploration.

About Jean-Michel Cousteau

CMBB 162 | Scuba DivingExplorer. Environmentalist. Educator. Film Producer. For more than four decades, Jean-Michel Cousteau has dedicated himself and his vast experience to communicate to people of all nations and generations his love and concern for our water planet. Jean-Michel Cousteau was invited to share his experience at the upcoming 78 Years of Diving and Discovery Celebration at The Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Santa Barbara on November 10 - 12, 2023.

Guest Website: https://oceanfutures.org

Guest Social: https://www.instagram.com/oceanfuturessociety, https://www.facebook.com/OceanFuturesSociety, https://www.youtube.com/user/OceanFuturesSociety

Additional Resources Mentioned:

https://youtu.be/VeKfrrUN8Wg?si=RUek6x8GASUzKcKz

https://www.sevenrooms.com/experiences/sbarzexperiences/78-years-of-diving-discovery-gala-and-weekend-festivities--9299725370

Show Notes:

00:00 - Introduction

03:49 - Most memorable moments at sea

08:39 - How the underwater world changed through the years

14:41 - Silver linings in saving the ocean

19:43 - The future of ocean exploration and technology

26:45 - Acquiring rare earth minerals

32:04 - Ocean Future society

38:17 - How to get involved

45:39 - How people on the central coast can explore the underwater world

50:28 - Closing Words

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Raising Awareness About Ocean Preservation Through Scuba Diving With Jean-Michel Cousteau

If you're a lover of the natural world of our oceans, getting outdoors, and doing things like scuba diving, then you are in for an incredible treat. I'm thrilled to introduce to all of you Jean-Michel Cousteau. He is an explorer, an environmentalist, a creator, an educator, a film producer, and an all-around incredible human.

Jean-Michel Cousteau, for more than four decades, has been dedicating himself to sharing all of his experience, his love for the oceans, and his concern for our water planet, this space that we all inhabit together with people of every nation of the world. He joins us so that we can learn more about his work with Ocean Futures Society, which is Santa Barbara-based. It's a not-for-profit. It's been going on for many years. He is also going to share an incredible upcoming event that he's been invited to participate in. It's called 78 Years of Diving and Discovery. This will be hosted at the Ritz-Carlton, which is in Santa Barbara, from November 10th to 12th, 2023. We will all be in for a treat if we can join him there.

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Jean-Michel Cousteau, welcome to the show.

Thank you very much. I found out before I had the pleasure of being with you that you are a scuba diver yourself. Bravo.

The underwater world has always been something that intrigued me from the moment I could get in the water. I don't know if you knew this, but I also interviewed Paula DiPerna about her work with this book she wrote called Pricing the Priceless. I understand that she collaborated with your father Jacques Cousteau and worked with him for a few years, even helping him write books and things like that. It was a moment where I touched on someone who had been an idol that got me into thinking about the underwater world.

Are you talking about Ted Turner?

Yeah.

I've been on an expedition many times. He was very much involved. He was responsible for us being able to produce all those shows that he was able to put on the air. Ted has been an amazing supporter of all of our work. He then focused on other things. I got invited to celebrate his 85th birthday in November 2023. I will be there at his place. We’re going to be with all the old-timers joining him because he's a secret to the planet.

Scuba diving and exploring the underwater world was like going into outer space. Technology has come so far. Diving has changed over the years, but our oceans have sadly changed for the worse in many cases. I know that we'll talk a bit about that. I can see that you have kept your nose to the grindstone and are working to protect our open spaces throughout your entire life. With 78 years of diving history, what are the most memorable moments that you have to share from your adventures in the sea, and what makes them stand out for you?

There are many. For me, the most exciting moment is the next one.

The next time you get to get in the water.

I am always looking forward to my next dive. I always see different behaviors, different species, or different connections between the species that we didn't know before. How can you protect what you don't understand? I've learned that a lot from my dad who put a tank on my back when I was seven. I started diving in those days at the very beginning when there were no certifications. Things have changed, and I'm glad it has. There are millions of people wanting to dive. We have an exciting period of time ahead of us. That's why we'll never stop. I'm glad you were asking me those questions.

I can think of a few moments in my time diving that have stood out to me. One was perhaps the first time I saw a shark in the water. I developed fear.

It’s okay to be scared of sharks.

You grow up thinking that there's something to be feared in many cases. In my case, I was diving on Kauai or off the island. The open ocean was a vast array of blue. I learned to dive in the Monterey Bay where you have a ton of things to show you scale. When you're in the great open blue water, you look out and a reef shark is approaching you with such incredible visibility and depth of vision being able to see 300 feet or something to that effect, there's no scale by which to identify them. I was sure one of these sharks was at least 15 feet. It comes up to me and they're long. I relaxed, breathed, and learned not to fear sharks with each subsequent dive. That’s one thing I would love to counsel people to do. If you are getting into the ocean, open your mind and try not to fear.

You have to learn about what each species is attracted by, why, and so on. Sharks are very sensitive to smell and vision. If the water is not clear and a shark comes, they make mistakes. They don't like to eat us. We are not good food, but they make mistakes. I learned that a long time ago and I've been able to dive with many different species of sharks. I will never stop unless the water is not clear or there is somebody hurt that is bleeding, and then I back away. Otherwise, I have no problem based with sharks.

I was in South Africa where there was a gentleman who's a fisherman who learned about the presence of sharks. He said, “If the water is clear and there is no blood there, you can go. They'll come. They look at you and they go away.” He said, “If you want to, because the conditions are perfect, you can grab the dorsal fin and they will take you far wide. I've done that with one 11-foot great white shark. I went underwater, and at some point, I had to let it go because I needed to breathe. The shark kept going away. We need to learn. How can we do what needs to be done to protect what every one of us, you and I, depend upon by not spending all the time we need to do in the ocean?

I'm here on the Central Coast of California. There are people in the ocean constantly surfing. It’s Surf City, USA, Santa Cruz. They spend their time on top of the water. I drive out to Monterey and spend my time below water. In neither case do you hear about shark attacks coming like crazy. I want people to develop that healthy respect for the ocean and also get to know more about it. As far as your time with what you've seen around the globe, I wonder how you've seen our underwater world change over the course of the last few decades. What have you noticed?

A lot is changing because there are several issues. Number one, we are polluting what we all depend upon, which is the ocean. We’re talking about all the plastic, but we never talk about all the chemicals and heavy metals. When you take a tablet of aspirin, hopefully, it takes care of your headache, but what happened to that chemical? It goes right into the ocean.

There are places where there's too much of that going on. It affects, for example, turtles, which are born on the beach. They are little baby ones coming out of the sand and they have tumors and so on. Their objective is to go back into the ocean. All those chemicals affected them while they were born because they are born from an egg that the turtle is putting under the sand. We need to learn all of this. We can share a lot of that with people. They understand and then want to change their behavior and actions. We are heading that way.

We have another 100 million people invading the planet every year. We need to communicate with them because we all depend upon the ocean. You and I live near the ocean, but what about the people who've never seen the ocean that live up in the mountains? Some of them go to school there and they grow plants and animals to feed themselves or the people who are dependent upon them.

When you look at the snow on top of a mountain and you have kids grabbing the sand and throwing it at each other, I tell them, and I have a film on that, “You’re throwing the ocean at each other.” They say, “What’s happening?” so I show them. It melts. It creates little streams and a river. That river becomes big and goes all the way. In the case of the United States, it goes all the way across the United States and goes down.

You have many industries cleaning themselves inside these beautiful waters and they end up in the ocean. We need to realize that there is one water system, we all depend upon it, and we are made of up to maybe 60% of the ocean. We need to know all of this, and then people make less mistakes. Education is critical. We never want to criticize or point a finger. We need to reach hearts. People have families. They have children. They care and we want them to know about it. It's exciting and fascinating. They make discoveries.

Every time we lose a species because we’re over-harvesting, whether it's on land or in the ocean or whether it's a tree or an animal of any kind, we need to protect every species on land and in the ocean. Every species is the capital. We can only have the interest produced by the capital, and that's okay. If you take more, you start to eat up the capital and then it goes bankrupt. That creature or plant is no longer connected to other creatures and plants that depend upon them. The system becomes a little weaker. That's why we are living in a very difficult time, but we are getting more aware.

I'm happy to say that in the last several years, you have 8 billion people on the planet who got connected to each other visually, through the telephone, the computers, and on and on. We never will stop. That's why I will never stop diving because I want to see the behavior I haven't seen or new species that need to be protected and make sure that the people do the right thing. There are more people wanting to do that, so we are living in a very exciting time.

I 100% agree with you. We've covered that story in a variety of ways over the course of the last few months. I can think of one in which we interviewed Steven Hawley about the dams that are being dismantled. There's advocacy to dismantle dams in the Pacific Northwest so that salmon can make their way back upstream so that the orca can be healthy.

You have somebody like John Roulac who has started talking about regenerative agriculture, focusing on keeping our rivers blue. That means controlling runoff from farming so that we don't have these out-of-control algae blooms and murky rivers with less healthy ecosystems at the same time. To your point, all of these waters are connected and it's a matter of time before they reach the ocean.

The ocean provides so much of an incredible resource for the diversity of species. At the same time, we're seeing a lot of extinction occur over the course of the last few decades. I wonder what positive silver lining pieces you might have at your fingertips as I think about perhaps some of the scarier moments I've encountered in climate science and as it relates to the health of our oceans.

There is a lot of effort that is coming thanks from scientists and people who are curious, interested, and want to share information more than ever I've experienced in a long time. We are heading in the right direction. I'm very happy to say that. The work is huge. We need to do a lot more than we’re doing, but we’re going in that direction.

We have to understand, which I didn't know several years ago, the importance of whales and dolphins, which are mammals. They’re warm-blooded like you and I. They live all over the planet. Some species like the largest of the dolphins, which are the orcas, live everywhere on 60% of the planet or 70% of the planet, which is the ocean. We live on 30%. People need to know that.

These animals are very important because what they do to release themselves after they’ve eaten contributes to helping many of the species, particularly the ones that are deep at 3,000 feet or whatever, to find the food that they need to grow up and so on. All of that happens, and it releases the air we breathe, you and I, maybe 30% or 40% on an ongoing basis.

Every creature, like marine mammals, which are whales, dolphins, sea lions, and so on, is like you and I. We need to protect them. It’s very important for our future. The emission of air which we take advantage of, there are things that we need to make sure everybody protects it for the future of our species. We are the only species that has the privilege to decide not to disappear. It's our choice. Whales, dolphins, and sea lions don't have that choice, but they’re warm-blooded like you and I. They have sophisticated communication systems.

That's why we’re involved in trying to find a way to start a new television series, which I would like to do. Maybe we will, but time is of the essence. It's not for me, but it's for us on the planet to learn everything. I've had the privilege of diving in many parts of the planet, thanks to my dad, his team, our colleagues, scientists, my children, and Nan. We all want to do what needs to be done in order to protect the future of our species. I'm convinced that we can do it, but time is of the essence. We need to do it.

Never criticize or blame rich people. Whether you're in politics or in industries, these people have obligations or they think they have obligations to be re-elected or to make money, but at what price? What are the consequences if you don't do what you need to do? They all have families. You reach to sit down with the president or the director of an industry and try to communicate. That's what I've done all my life. Eighty percent of the time, it works. That's why we'll never stop.

That's the emotional appeal, too, because you're able to pull out their heartstrings. Who can deny the beauty of nature when you go out on a boat like the one you'll be inviting people out onto in Santa Barbara if they're so lucky to be able to attend that gala and exploration of the coast there? I was wondering if you could talk for a moment about the future of ocean exploration and the role of technology. How do you see this playing into the evolution of ocean exploration?

We need to understand how to better explore and not create more pollution. The air can be very helpful. That's what we've done when I was out there with a new boat that was created with our team. I'm happy to tell you that one day because the conditions were perfect, we were going thirteen knots a minute with no oil. It was all air-pushing us. There are new technologies that are getting better.

We need to also make sure that we stop going where all these creatures are, which we are learning a lot more, particularly along coastlines depending upon their presence there. If we go through you killing them or scaring them, that's something we are learning more about. People and decision-makers can make much better decisions.

A lot of good news is happening, but it's not enough. That's why we’re helping for the protection of coastlines and creating an environment where people cannot do what they normally do or not go fishing, taking advantage, allowing a lot of the pollution to go into the ocean, taking the oil in the wrong place, and so on. We are learning all of this and making progress. It's very critical.

I'm happy to say that there are some places that are being created that allow some species of whales like the humpback whales to come back. We were almost heading toward losing them, which would affect us. We are finding out that perhaps in the near future, it's going to get better. Boats, which have to go from one part of the world to the other, will already have to slow down, go to different locations, speed much less, and use the wind as much as possible. We are heading in that direction one way or the other.

There are new technologies. We are working with some fans who maybe can take advantage of the currents because unless air is compressible, water is not compressible. Maybe we can take advantage of that in the rivers, the streams, and the ocean. I don't know. There are all kinds of new ideas that are coming into the minds of people and saying, “I want to look into this. I want to explore.”

There are a lot of people who can help us. I meet a lot of scientists and biologists who educate me so I can share that knowledge or information with the public, whether it is with the privilege of being with you, making a film, making a presentation, or putting an educational program called Ambassador of the Environment, which my colleagues who are marine biologists have created. They put it into different places like six different Ritz-Carlton on the planet, in Fiji at a place which bears my name, and Catalina Island where we have a family program in August every year. I've been going there for many years nonstop every year. We also have CELP, which happens every year in Catalina. That is helping people also.

We need to provide as much information as possible to people about what we are connected to and depend upon. A lot of it is fascinating. That's why when people like you have asked me, “What's your best dive?” I always say, “The next one,” because I'm going to maybe see a new species, a new behavior, or the connection between different species that I didn't know before, and whether these plants or animals are important.

It is because of what we are doing to the planet that there are places where we used to have a huge diversity of coral reefs. Those corals are dying because they are in shallow waters. They are affected by whatever reaches the shallow water of the coastline. Some of those species are moving somewhere else, fortunately, because of the water temperatures changing and on and on. We need to do everything we can to protect and make sure we do what needs to be done, and we’re heading that way.

I've created a program which is called the World Ocean Network which would allow to have positioned vessels and platforms in nine different countries as part of the ocean. It is about being able to communicate underwater via satellite to anyone on my cell phone or whatever and ask questions if I need to ask questions to somebody who may be at 1,000 feet of depth on a boat, while scuba diving, or whatever. There are many ways we are heading in that direction. That's why I'm still very confident that we’re going to head in the right direction. It's our choice. Communication is critical to make sure other people do the right thing to protect their family, their children, and their grandchildren. That's what I'm trying to do myself.

CMBB 162 | Scuba Diving Scuba Diving: Humans are going in the right direction. Communication is critical to make sure everyone is doing the right thing to protect their families and children.

You mentioned some of what I would call my old diving haunts as you talk about Catalina and probably the Channel Islands there because I've done live-aboard boat dives, heading out on a couple of different vessels. I got to see some of the most extraordinary dive sites from San Miguel Island where the currents can be quite something to contend with to even diving an oil derrick off the coast of Santa Barbara. We got permission and dove the Eureka oil derrick and got to see how even something like an oil derrick can create an underwater reef full of brittle stars, sheep's head fish, and all sorts of things.

You can restore reefs with artificial means as well. This is not to say that I'm a proponent of drilling into our seabeds, but these are also things that continue to come onto the docket even as we're starting to look for rare earth minerals. I wonder if you have a comment about the exploration of our seas for some of these rare earth minerals. I know there are concerns even about the noise that it will create and how that affects sea life like whales and dolphins.

We need to be aware of that. We need to ask the people who are in charge or would like to explore places to behave in a different way in order to not just protect that environment and these species, but for us to discover things we don't know. By trying to continue making all the noise that we make, the speed that we do, and the propellers that kill everything, there are ways, which is changing.

I was asking about the current produced by the water. I said, “Can we do that?” People said, “You can't do that because if there's a propeller, it's going to kill a fish, maybe a dolphin, or whatever.” The people were working on it, scientists and so on. I studied with them and they said, “For the same amount of energy you get from the wind on land or above water, underwater, it is three rotations per minute from a propeller to capture the same energy that the ones on top are going very fast.” That is a new approach that needs to be explored further to decide what we are going to do next.

A gentleman I was working with showed me that these propellers are going so slowly that the fish are going through. Even a dolphin went right through and it couldn't care less because they don't even notice how slow it's moving. There are huge opportunities in the future. We are going to discover new ways of doing what we need to do to protect ourselves by protecting what we are all connected to and depend upon.

No. We are not scuba diving that day because I want to make sure anybody who's interested can come.

They can also ask questions.

A lot of people, because of their age, their health, or they are beginning life with babies and kids, I want to make sure that they can come and learn. We’re not diving, but I miss it. I can share stories. That's only one of the big programs that we have, which is part of the event at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara here in California in Santa Barbara has put together. It’s very emotional to me.

We have an evening of the tenth for cocktails and whatnot. On the 11th, Saturday, we have a presentation on walking into those mountains to make a connection with nature and the ocean. I will be making a presentation that evening and then we celebrate the dinner and so on. It's beautiful. I don't know if you've ever been to Bacara, but it's a very beautiful place. The next day, we'll be on a boat and spend four and a half hours or more. I forgot the details, but we are going to be out there. It's not the season where the whales come. There may be some whales, but there will be dolphins, birds, and all kinds of creatures that love to be at sea. I've done it many times. We'll be there.

I have to tell you. The humpback whales might be up here in Santa Cruz County, off the coast, gorging on sardines. Typically, October is when they start to hit our area. I've even seen that their populations seem to be rebounding. Going out on boat tours, I saw a pot of 100 Risso dolphins or so. I know that every time you go out to sea, you will see something. It’s an amazing adventure. I personally am looking at whether or not I can make the time to come with my older son who is going to be nine in January 2024.

In one year, he should be a diver.

I am looking at when we introduce scuba to him. This could be one of the first adventures for that. I'm doing what I can with my schedule and my budget because we will have returned from a vacation where we're visiting Kona, the big island, with our children the month before. My heart, like yours, I'm sure, goes out to everyone on Maui who has had to deal with the immense ravaging fires there and the devastation.

You're going to the big island but not to Maui.

Not this 2023.

I was there with Nan, our team, local people, and friends we have over there thanks to Nan because that's where we met. The catastrophe is horrible, what has happened there. We're trying to help as much as we can. People can make donations specific to them through Ocean Futures. 100% of it goes to help those people over there. We have a program on the Ritz-Carlton Bacara over there. There were 630 people who used to work at that hotel. Half of them have lost their homes and their jobs. We’re trying to help as we can. Anybody who's made a donation, whether it's $100 or $1,000, 100% of it goes to those people.

I will counsel all of my audience to visit their website. It is simply OceanFutures.org. I'm going to see if I can make it to your event in South Central California.

It is on 10, 11, and 12 November 2023.

I'm hoping I can do it and see if I can align my schedule so that I can make it. It will probably mean leaving my younger son, my husband, and our home behind us though, sadly.

Maybe you can bring your son or maybe you can send your son. We'll take care of him.

As far as how our audience can support your network, what else would you advise them to do? I'm hoping some of them can join us here. November 10th to 12th, 2023 in Santa Barbara at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara. You can also buy tickets directly from OceanFutures.org, buy tickets for the gala, learn more, or for the Ocean Adventure portion as well. What other ways can you encourage people to get involved, specifically with what you're doing?

It's fascinating. It's not just me, Ocean Futures, or my colleagues to make sure every human being realizes how connected we are to the ocean and how much we depend upon it, whether we live near it or far away from it. Usually, 90% or maybe more of the people say, “I didn't know. I want to do that. I want to learn about this because it is fascinating.” It's like an adventure or discovery. When I go up on land and listen to local people who are experts, they can teach me and show me what to do, what not to do, what to take, and what not to take. It's the same with the ocean. We live on 30% of the planet and we know a lot more about what's going on on the 30% than we know what's going on in the ocean.

The ocean is an adventure. It's endless. You can be a diver, but you can snorkel or have someone who can transmit from underwater anywhere on the planet, which I did. I was in Fiji one day. That was many years ago. It was in the ‘80s. I was underwater and able to speak and communicate with the Zodiac. The Zodiac had an antenna via satellite.

People, at the same time, in Japan and Canada were asking me questions when I was underwater. I was able to answer their questions right there. It was either in English or in French, unfortunately. We went to Japan and we couldn't speak Japanese, but they were speaking English very well. It was exciting. That's why my project, which would require a few million dollars to make sure that happened, and it’s not for me but for the planet, will allow people anywhere on the planet to ask questions to all those people where they are nonstop. That's what, one way or the other, is going to happen.

I love all of that. You're using underwater.

You can be in a piece of equipment like the Exosuit where you’re protected from the pressure and you can breathe. Thanks to Phil Newton who was the inventor of many of these equipment including submersibles and so on, I am certified to go down to 1,000 feet in 5 minutes, spend 2 hours, and come back in 5 minutes. There, I can see things. I can push the button and film or whatever. That’s where thousands of people are going to go.

What you're describing is something you can do without worrying about getting the bends, which is something that can be debilitating for people who do deep dives. I’ve also had the pleasure of touring MBARI’s research facility, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. They're taking underwater rovers into the trench off the coast of Carmel doing very deep work to discover new things every month, it seems. I wonder if you're connected to their work as well and if you might have a word to say for anybody here on the Central Coast who wants to explore the underwater world.

I used to be connected because I've been there many times. We used to transmit information from different parts of the ocean to the aquarium. They're doing a great job. They are more concerned about released species, how to protect them, and what to do on the coastline, whether it's fishing, ships coming and going, or the pollution that is being released. There's a lot of very positive action, but we need to do a lot more. We need to be educated. They are experts over there who can help us do a much better job than I can do because I haven't been there in quite a while.

CMBB 162 | Scuba Diving Scuba Diving: There is a lot of positive action towards saving the ocean. But there is still a lot to do. People need to be educated, and there are experts all over the world who can help in accomplishing this.

I would encourage everyone here if you happen to have the opportunity to be at or near the coast here in Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, or Monterey to do what you can to explore the underwater and sea. Sometimes, that is going to an aquarium like the Monterey Bay Aquarium and seeing what it looks like from the outside to inspire the curiosity that might take you into the water as well. I love that.

Our mission at Ocean Futures is very simple. It's for everyone. It is if you protect the ocean, you protect yourself. I've been saying that for many years and I will never stop because that's what it's all about.

Life comes from the sea. We need to realize how reliant we are on the health of the ocean for the health of people, the climate, and the species that do things like make their way inland to leave their bodies in the forest. The trees are twice as big where salmon spawn. These things are connected and they're related. We want to sequester more carbon. More than half of the oxygen we breathe comes from algae species growing around the planet.

Thanks to the whales. Thanks to the ocean. Thanks to evaporation. Thanks to what it does with the clouds and the wind that brings them to the top of a mountain, people who have never seen the ocean are connected to the ocean.

That's why perhaps I will continue to live within a stone's throw of the shore. Thank you so much for joining me. This has been my absolute pleasure. I hope that I get to meet you on November 10th, 2023 at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara.

We can do that. What you're doing and what needs to be done more is to have your son and his friends connected to the ocean as much as we can.

Hear, hear. To more of that. Thank you so much for joining me.

You're very welcome. Thank you. I appreciate you. I hope to see you if we can do it.

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As always, you can go directly to OceanFutures.org and perhaps consider making a recurring donation, whether or not you're able to attend this event on the central coast of California in Santa Barbara. If you're listing after November 12th, 2023, if that's already in the past, don't fret. I'm sure there will be more opportunities to come.

When you visit the show's website, CareMoreBeBetter.com, you’ll find links and resources to past episodes that we touched on and other ways that you can get involved. If you sign up for our newsletter, too, you'll be sure to receive our five-step guide to help organize your efforts and unleash your inner activist. Perhaps it's as simple as curating what the next generation understands about our natural world, contributing to them the way I hope to on the weekend of November 10th to 12th, 2023 at the Ritz-Carlton. Pull my leg. It's not going to be terrible to be there. I've never stayed at a Ritz-Carlton, so we'll see if I can swing that.

At the same time, I want to ask everyone here that if you enjoyed this episode, please go ahead and subscribe on whatever platform you're tuning in and leave a comment, a like, or a thumbs up, whatever the platform allows. All of those things ensure that this episode will reach more people and hopefully drum up those numbers on November 10th to 12th, 2023 for Jean-Michel Cousteau and the Ocean Futures Program. Thank you so much.

I want to close with one simple thought. We can and will continue to protect our oceans together. We can and will build a brighter future together. This show is all about that. It's an invitation to care more so we can all create a better world. Sometimes, that can be as simple as sharing this episode with people that you know in your community. Sometimes, it can be as simple as reaching out to a society like the Ocean Futures Society and making a donation. It can be talking about it to a friend, visiting the underwater world in some capacity, and inspiring your own curiosity to learn more so that you can have an impact in your neighborhood, your community, and the people around you by sharing your knowledge.

That's everything that Jean-Michel Cousteau has dedicated his life to. I'm in deep admiration for it. My only hope is that we can all amplify that together. Thank you now and always for being a part of this show and this community because together, we can do so much more. We can care more. We can be better. We can even create that bluer ocean and brighter world together. Thank you.

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