Jean Michel Cousteau

His rough-cut hair and beard shine silver like sunlight off water. His eyes are dappled with hues of the reef. He wears a dive-suit sewn in shades of ocean blue. His name seems derived from the sea, too: Cousteau. When he splashes off the stern of a dive boat, Jean-Michel Cousteau folds at the waist. His arms draw to his side. His swim fins flex and bite into the water. He is fluid, streamlined, serene. A cascade of chrome bubbles rise from the scuba regulator in his mouth.

The Early Show (N) 7 a.m. KCBS Today Ricky Gervais; Tony Bennett; Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds. (N) 7 a.m. KNBC KTLA Morning News (N) 7 a.m. KTLA Good Morning America Bill Weir in Yosemite National Park; the cast of "Jersey Shore"; chef Daphne Oz. (N) 7 a.m. KABC Good Day L.A. (N) 7 a.m. KTTV Live With Regis and Kelly Alexander Skarsgard; Melissa Joan Hart. (N) 9 a.m. KABC The View Jimmy Fallon; Vera Farmiga; Katie Couric. (N) 10 a.m. KABC The Talk Sugar Ray Leonard; Julie Benz.

Jean-Michel Cousteau, internationally acclaimed ocean explorer and environmentalist, has accepted an invitation to premiere his new marine mammal film at a benefit for the Ventura County Maritime Museum at 7 p.m. Saturday. A 5:30 p.m. "Meet the Speaker" reception will precede the film and lecture. The evening with Cousteau is the first in a series of events organized by curator Dick Cunningham on behalf of the 2-year-old museum at 2731 S. Victoria Ave., Oxnard.

Re "The Navy is tone deaf on whales," Opinion, Jan. 6 Jean-Michel Cousteau and Michael Jasny's opinion piece misrepresents the Navy's environmental record. The Navy is working hard to meet both its responsibilities for environmental stewardship and national defense. The Navy began taking significant and common-sense measures for environmental protection long ago. It agreed with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to employ rigorous protective measures for marine mammals well before the exercises in the Pacific Ocean began and before the Natural Resources Defense Council sued the Navy.

Without a single wet suit or tank of oxygen, supporters of the Orange County Court-Appointed Special Advocates were treated to a voyage with Cousteau on Saturday night. Nearly 150 guests gathered at the Center Club for cocktails and the opportunity to hear the words of Jean-Michel Cousteau (son of sea explorer Jacques), who has spent most of his life with his father, exploring the sea and farthest corners of our Earth.

Jean-Michel Cousteau is partial to Fiji, New Guinea, parts of Indonesia, and several places in the Indian Ocean and Asia. But he now hangs his hat in Santa Barbara. "I've lived in Santa Barbara for the last year and a half, and I opened my office last June," he said. "I've had my eye on Santa Barbara for the last 20 years. We have the Channel Islands that have been virtually untouched except by the military.

Turn on Discovery or any of the other cable channels that broadcast adventure documentaries and the chances are pretty good that you'll be looking at a product of Burrud Cousteau Horton Inc. of Santa Barbara. The company owns more than 1,400 hours of documentary footage, including the "Search for Adventure" series, "Jean Michel Cousteau's World of Sharks" and "Beyond Bizarre." Jean Michel Cousteau is, of course, the son of underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau.

Earth is a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there. That's the word from ABC's "The Koppel Report: News From Earth," an electronic time capsule, airing at 10 tonight on Channels 3, 7 and 10 and presented in the form of a message about our planet directed at alien cultures.

Re "The Navy is tone deaf on whales," Opinion, Jan. 6 Jean-Michel Cousteau and Michael Jasny's opinion piece misrepresents the Navy's environmental record. The Navy is working hard to meet both its responsibilities for environmental stewardship and national defense. The Navy began taking significant and common-sense measures for environmental protection long ago. It agreed with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to employ rigorous protective measures for marine mammals well before the exercises in the Pacific Ocean began and before the Natural Resources Defense Council sued the Navy.

The Early Show (N) 7 a.m. KCBS Today Ricky Gervais; Tony Bennett; Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds. (N) 7 a.m. KNBC KTLA Morning News (N) 7 a.m. KTLA Good Morning America Bill Weir in Yosemite National Park; the cast of "Jersey Shore"; chef Daphne Oz. (N) 7 a.m. KABC Good Day L.A. (N) 7 a.m. KTTV Live With Regis and Kelly Alexander Skarsgard; Melissa Joan Hart. (N) 9 a.m. KABC The View Jimmy Fallon; Vera Farmiga; Katie Couric. (N) 10 a.m. KABC The Talk Sugar Ray Leonard; Julie Benz.

President Bush today will create the world's largest marine protected area, a total of 140,000 square miles of Pacific Ocean surrounding a necklace of islands and atolls that stretch from the main Hawaiian Islands to Midway Atoll and beyond, senior administration officials said. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument will be larger than all of America's national parks combined.

His rough-cut hair and beard shine silver like sunlight off water. His eyes are dappled with hues of the reef. He wears a dive-suit sewn in shades of ocean blue. His name seems derived from the sea, too: Cousteau. When he splashes off the stern of a dive boat, Jean-Michel Cousteau folds at the waist. His arms draw to his side. His swim fins flex and bite into the water. He is fluid, streamlined, serene. A cascade of chrome bubbles rise from the scuba regulator in his mouth.

On this blue-on-blue morning in the South Pacific, I am sitting on the beach with Jean-Michel Cousteau, the 58-year-old ocean explorer, filmmaker and son of the late Jacques. We are sipping strong Fijian coffee and watching my daughter and stepgrandson build sand castles in the shade of a coconut palm on a narrow strip of beach that fronts this resort that bears his name.

Forty feet beneath the foamy surf that batters the basalt cliffs of this wind-swept island, Jean-Michel Cousteau was encouraged by a symphony of life amid the barnacled rocks. Schools of iridescent blacksmiths darted about the milky blue water. Fat, pumpkin-orange garibaldis popped out of dark grottoes and long, muscular calico bass cruised slowly beneath the canopy of undulating kelp. Such scenes told the bearded Frenchman that the Channel Islands' underwater ecosystem is doing fine.

Turn on Discovery or any of the other cable channels that broadcast adventure documentaries and the chances are pretty good that you'll be looking at a product of Burrud Cousteau Horton Inc. of Santa Barbara. The company owns more than 1,400 hours of documentary footage, including the "Search for Adventure" series, "Jean Michel Cousteau's World of Sharks" and "Beyond Bizarre." Jean Michel Cousteau is, of course, the son of underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau.

Jean-Michel Cousteau is partial to Fiji, New Guinea, parts of Indonesia, and several places in the Indian Ocean and Asia. But he now hangs his hat in Santa Barbara. "I've lived in Santa Barbara for the last year and a half, and I opened my office last June," he said. "I've had my eye on Santa Barbara for the last 20 years. We have the Channel Islands that have been virtually untouched except by the military.

Declaring that a tanker accident is inevitable, ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau called Wednesday for the equivalent of an air traffic control system to guide oil tankers and other ships plying the waters off the California coast. Testifying before a State Lands Commission meeting at Santa Monica City Hall, Cousteau said that preventing an accident at sea is the only practical way of safeguarding the state's beaches and sensitive marine life from the ravages of a major oil spill.

Jean-Michel Cousteau, internationally acclaimed ocean explorer and environmentalist, has accepted an invitation to premiere his new marine mammal film at a benefit for the Ventura County Maritime Museum at 7 p.m. Saturday. A 5:30 p.m. "Meet the Speaker" reception will precede the film and lecture. The evening with Cousteau is the first in a series of events organized by curator Dick Cunningham on behalf of the 2-year-old museum at 2731 S. Victoria Ave., Oxnard.