PROTEUS
Vision Statement by Fabien Cousteau Written July 9, 2020
We should call our planet Ocean. Without water, Earth would be just one of billions of lifeless rocks floating endlessly in the vastness of the inky-black void. Not only has the ocean created life as we know it, but it also sustains it, providing the leading source of oxygen, fresh water and nourishment--as well as countless jobs in trade, tourism and travel. Whether we are conscious of it or not, the ocean dictates our trajectory--everywhere, every day.
Since it’s the cradle of life itself, it stands to reason the ocean is the source where we will find the answers we seek for the health of humanity and the future of our planet. We will begin to accomplish this through PROTEUSTM, my vision for the world’s most advanced underwater laboratory, built to address earth’s most pressing issues. Despite the ocean representing over 99% of our world’s living space (and 332 million cubic miles), only 5% has been explored to any significant degree. The ocean remains an incredible source of dynamic data, sustainable energy solutions, and the potential for future medicines. PROTEUSTM will be capable of hosting more people than any other underwater habitat, and feasibly for much longer. It grants the gift of time to aquanauts and scientists, leading to exponential research. The knowledge that will be uncovered undersea will forever change the way generations of humans live up above.
Over sixty years ago, my grandfather, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, made groundbreaking oceanic discoveries leading the first crew to successfully live and explore underwater in Conshelf II. Situated in the Red Sea, he and his crewmates explored the greatness of the area via the aid of SCUBA, his co-invention. I’ve honored his accomplishments--and the other brilliant minds he was surrounded by--through continuing to invent, explore, and educate about the ocean’s importance.
In 2014, I led Mission 31, the longest continuous underwater discovery expedition in history at Aquarius, the world’s only remaining underwater lab, which is about the size of a school bus. In just 31 days, we performed three years worth of equivalent scientific research, leading to the publication of over 9,800 articles and 12 scientific papers. The world watched and listened with 34 billion media impressions. We live-streamed the mission, connecting with hundreds of thousands of citizens around the world. Building from the lessons learned from Mission 31, I want us to be able to live and work underwater for longer--to go deeper and further. I have envisioned PROTEUSTM, over four times the size of Aquarius, to be the marine research platform that will allow us to do that.
PROTEUSTM extends the legacy of my grandfather, Jacques Cousteau, and embodies his famous quote, “People protect what they love, they love what they understand, and they understand what they are taught.” Until more people feel they have access to the ocean and can understand what it can provide and how they are connected to it, change cannot be enacted. The more we learn about our human connection to the ocean, the more we can grapple with what we need to know, make better decisions to secure a sustainable future to pass on to the next generations.
With the aid of new technologies and through carrying and honoring the knowledge of those who came before us, we will build PROTEUSTM to be almost completely sustainable.
We need to make the ocean feel more personal, to have everyone realize that their everyday actions affect the ocean’s health--and in return, the health of humanity. With over 7.8 billion humans (and growing) on this planet, our actions are adding up; the ocean is feeling our heavy influence. Whatever we put down our drain or into the air, makes its way towards and into the water. It is a closed loop system--there is no such thing as throwing “away”.
While I have been diving since I was four years old--not many have or have been exposed to the ocean so intimately. PROTEUSTM will hold the first underwater, state-of-the-art video production studio, connecting to the world with technology like WiFi6+, allowing for incredibly rich videos to be produced and shared. Such tools as these are vital to personalizing the knowledge of the ocean and the impact that we are having as humans on our planet PROTEUSTM proves that when a dream is audacious enough, nothing can vanquish it.
In many ways, PROTEUSTM is our generation’s Moon landing. Before it was reality, the Moon landing was just a dream that hardly anyone thought could come true. Fifty years later, we are embarking on the next great mission that I will lead. We need this next big step in ocean exploration and research to advance science and solve some of the critical issues facing humanity today. I want to explore the oceans of Mars – but until we can go there and return safely, the Earth’s oceans still hold quite a few secrets that are the keys to our future.
We must dare to dream bigger. Let us make history--while solving for our future--with PROTEUS.
