Was to catch octopus. Hes dedicated his life to educating the world in particularly children about the importance of the sea. Coustea partners with earths youngest generation. Teaching them to create the kind of positive relationship with the planet, he says we need to survive i look at kids in the eyes, if im a little bit concerned, and i said i will never, never let you down. As a diplomat for the environment, cousteau works to convince policy makers in corporations, that they must commit to pursuing alternative forms of energy. Enough is enough. We need change. Hes also collaborated with n. A. S. A. For me, there is one system. And represented earth at the olympics. My dreams are coming true laughs . And he plans to keep on diving. Until i get to be 107. I spoke to Jean Michel Cousteau in Santa Barbara california where his Ocean Future Society is headquartered. It was founded to carry on his pioneering work. My generation grew up on the undersea world of jacques cousteau. Your dad opened up this universe to generations. How, how has it changed from the 1960s in that initial exploration to to now . Well, i think his curiosity uh is what made him do what he did and open the door uh in a easy way compared to many other ways uh to uh exploring the ocean and seeing and discovering what is at the end of the day a life support system to every one of us. The majority of all life in the ocean and on earth uh on land is because of the ocean and the foundations of all life which is the plankton zooplankton, phytoplankton. Without them it wouldnt have any life. We wouldnt be here. So we didnt know that in those days and so the curiosity of my dad was to keep going, going, going, and people would ask him what do you expect to find on your next dive . And he always said if i knew i wouldnt go. And uh what i say today myself is what is your best dive when they ask me and i say the next one. Well i was just going to say that youve been diving the better part of 70 years. How much do we know about the ocean at this point . We dont know very much. Weve only explored the shallow waters because so far the technology does not allow us to stay there deep for long periods of time. Were getting there. Slowly getting there. As a matter of fact, theres new equipment which ive just been certified and im looking forward to. The exoskeleton. The exosuit. Where you can go down to 1000 feet in minutes, spend 10 hours youre totally free. You propel yourself, and in 5 minutes youre back and you can film you can take samples and so on and thats going to help but were only talking about 1000 feet. Today we know maybe 300 feet so we have a long way to go to discover many, many new species whether its animals or plants we connected to all of these. Most most people dont realize that the majority of the pharmaceutical products that you use originally come from the ocean and we mimic that, those products but if it wasnt for the ocean we would have a lot of problems today. You mentioned chemicals and heavy metals and people respond to what they see. You dont see chemicals. Its a primary sense, vision. So how do you address this issue that people dont relate to because they dont see it . Work. Jobs money. And people listen, and if you can create new technologies to capture these Running Waters before they get to the ocean capture them treat them and some of it is being done by the way, and that means not only work that means money. And thats going to help a lot of people on the 30 of the planet where we live and its going to protect the ocean which we need to do. As humans we segment ourselves, we create borders, we have cities and towns and states and countries and we think in those terms. You cant really think that way with the ocean. The good news for me is what i call the communication revolution. Where today you have 7. 2 billion people we can communicate with each other. That was not the case 20 years ago. Borders were probably okay today its an absurdity. Borders are meaningless. The United States has showed that. Theres 50 states. Theres no borders to go from one state to the other. Theres one ocean, one land one system which we all depend upon and i may not say that that quickly but uh were the only species on the planet the only species on the planet that has the privilege not to disappear. Its all choice. And i believe we head, we heading that direction of making the right things so we wont disappear. Were sitting in Santa Barbara. It just experienced the Worst Oil Spill that its seen in 50 years. Five years ago we had deep water horizon. This is not the bulk of the world being careless. These are powerful groups, powerful companies um very robust, Political Action groups, how do you penetrate that . Its a small powerful group that is really responsible in many ways for this global damage. Ive experienced the uh different catastrophes that took place such as what happens in Prince William sound with the exxon valdez in alaska. Today, the resident population of orcas that was there that live as long as we live that are the most clever sophisticated creature they are to the ocean what we are to the land. They cannot reproduce anymore because of what weve done over there. I went to uh spain where there was another spill. Ive seen people cry losing their jobs, not even able to catch fish and the banks would take their boats away. Billions and billions of dollars have been spent to compensate the people who lost their jobs and lost their equipment sometimes and got very very sick, many of them including some that died while the dolphins were giving birth in the oil and breastfeeding in the oil and today were finding out that many of them have not survived or cannot survive or may be very very sick and may not be able to reproduce. Who knows . Well that money could be used for new technology for a way for these companies to switch to stay in business and switch to renewable energy, whether its the sun whether its the wind, whether its the currents, or the difference of temperature, there all new technologies that are being put together by pioneers people who are spending all their resources in order for that to happen. Enough is enough. We need change. And we can sit down with those people. They have families they have children they care. But theyre so focused whether its government or industries into now, now, now because of their business which is too big a profit this year not 10 years from now, or to be reelected in two years from now whatever. But these people have families. They have children. So we need to sit down and have a dialog. Were not there to point fingers or blame them. Were there to come up with solutions for them to continue to be in business, for them to come up with solutions for our species to continue to enjoy beyond this planet and manage our resources in a sustainable way. I want to switch gears a little bit. I want to talk about your latest film. Youve produced 80 films many of them which are award winning. The latest secret ocean um its it is promoted with a phrase. It says the smallest life in the sea is the mightiest force on which we all depend. Its a great phrase, but what does it mean . Well, you know ive been diving almost 70 years next month. And um i now, thanks to the new technology that is available, i can see things ive never seen before. Thanks to that technology and secret ocean is unveiling secrets, by allowing that technology to bring these images to the public. And for them to understand that whether its the plankton or many other species of the foundations of all life in the ocean, and as it goes up the food chain, it allows the big fish the dolphins the whales and so on to be alive today. And its connected to every one of us. So its a very exciting approach and i think its just the beginning of many, many many more discoveries were going to be able to make with that equipment. And you know what, the majority of the people who come to see the show when im there are kids. And theyre going to make much much better decisions than we have made. Why, why do you think that i mean i want them to make better decisions but you know their parents havent done very well. Their grandparents havent done very well. Why do you have so much hope in the kids . I think it has a lot to do with exposure, with education and uh we are now, we show like secret ocean to be able to pass on the information which are making kids uh very, very excited. And you know we have a program an Ocean Future Society which i created after my father passed away which is called ambassador of the environment, and the questions that the kids ask us on our Educational Programs are unbelievable. And sometimes i, we have a hard time to get the right answer because they are so sophisticated. Kids are amazing. If you give them a chance, and they are the ones who, and i dont know how i can convince you because you sound a little bit not very very optimist. Can we change . Can we fundamentally change all the destruction that weve created . See its not can we. We are. I look at kids in the eyes if im a little bit concerned and i say i will never never let you down. Because i want them to have the same privilege that ive had and that we can provide them with. And uh thats what recharge my battery every time because otherwise i would quit go and hide somewhere, and try to catch the last fish in the ocean. Ive been sitting with people all over the planet, it doesnt mean that theyre all listen to, but many of them do. They want, they want to do the right thing. They have families they care. Still ahead on talk to Aljazeera Cousteau talks about god, and a grand plan. Stay with us tell me what you and your generation think is gonna to happen. Im Lisa Fletcher and youre watching talk to al jazeera were back with explorer conservationist, film maker Jean Michel Cousteau. So you said that you have logged more time underwater than any living person. Is it true that when you were a boy you would grab your book bag and head off to school, but some days never actually make it, youd go to the ocean and youd stay . Well, its not that simple because i i was getting in trouble but you know i would take my bag and i would go to the coastline, almost every day on my way to school. And uh one of the things i wanted to do was to um catch octopus. Today i cannot do it anymore because theres octopus and i used to go lift walks and i had learned from the local fishermen how to treat them and uh so i would catch 1, 2, 3 and then id go to school, i was late my uh, professor was yelling at me, jeanmichel, youre late again. And then in the afternoon i would go and get my octopus and i would sell them. And my uh biggest client was the chief of police. Well what does 77 year old jeanmichel say to 7 year old jeanmichel . Get wet. chuckle no i mean kids are amazing because if you start to show them uh the opportunities that are there, now today legally they cannot scuba dive until theyre 10 years old but you can take them snorkeling you can show them things. Do you ever get used to what you see under the ocean . Do you ever forget to appreciate it . No, you know one of the uh obligations we have is to connect. And um if im somewhere and i feel i dont want to go because i love where i am i go. Because i want to see what i havent seen. I want to share what i havent been able to share yet with anyone any place and i was in mexico just uh recently and uh, to be able to answer questions to hundreds of kids who have never seen the ocean was for me amazing. And i love that. Youve seen the the beauty of creation. Youve seen extraordinary sites that most people will never see in their entire life. Do you believe in a higher power or do you believe in a creator . Is there a grand plan . We are the grand plan. As i mentioned earlier we have the opportunity not to disappear, its our choice. And uh im totally convinced that we cannot um, use any kind of excuses to not take action ourselves. And whatever one believes in which is great and i respect that completely, needs to be connected with reality of everyday life. And make sure that if youre happy, you want to continue being happy. If you have a problem, if youre starving if youre not happy, other people can help you and we need to do that, and again, because of this communication revolution theres no excuse anymore and we can all on the planet, have a decent life that we can make that happen. When you realize that there are up to 4 to 5 thousand kids under the age of five who are dying every day, every day, every day, because they have no access to clean water or enough water, that can change tomorrow. Were not talking about billions of dollars. We talking about making sure they get access to water. Which is the source of all life. So that we can do. And that we are doing and we will do. Are we running out of time . No, time is of the issue because the more we delay the more difficult it gets but i dont believe its too late and i may be more and more difficult but we still can do it. And today again, if i didnt know about this communication revolution where you know i was in um india not very long ago in a room with one gentleman on the computer and there was 100 people around asking questions not about india, but about the rest of the world. So these people know particularly how privileged we are in this country where five percent of the worlds population consume 20 of the energy and same thing in europe, japan, so we can make a difference, we can change that we can make it happen. Youre watching talk to al jazeera hes had his head under water since since he was 7 and he has no plans to stop any time soon. Ill ask cousteau where hes looking forward to diving next. My heart is racing so fast. Standing at a crossroads. My parents have their plan. Im gonna do what god asks me to do before what they ask me to do. Can a family come together . Do you think that you can try and accept me for me . Life changing moments. My future is in my hands right now. From oscar winning director alex gibney. A Ground Breaking look at the real issues facing American Teens on the iran nuclear deal. Every pathway to a Nuclear Weapon is cut off. This is talk to al jazeera. Im Lisa Fletcher, and im with educator and explorer jeanmichel cousteau. Jeanmichel, you, at the olympics, were actually chosen to carry a flag for the earth. Talk about that a little bit. Well, i felt very privileged to have been invited to uh carry the flag to represent the environment. Which had never happened before and uh that was added to all the other uh specialties and um that was not only an honor but a dream of mine because when i was a teenager i wanted to represent france in the olympics in the 1500 meters. And i competed and competed to be retained as one of the four people that they keep, 3 to 1 and 1 backup and i became number 6. So it was very disappointing for me because i worked very very hard and uh so much that i was exhausted and i was throwing up i was, it was horrible, but when they asked me many, many decades later to help carry the flag at the opening uh of the olympics, that was very exciting and then later on i was in athens carrying the flames as well. And that was uh, very exciting. So my dreams are coming through. Weve been talking a lot about technology. You conducted um an undersea live video chat. Youve worked with nasa. Oh. Share some of that with us. Oh that was theres so much, you know theres a gentleman who was a, a biologist we used to work down with the United States navy down in san diego and uh he was very concerned about uh the dolphins and the sound and the effect that it had on the dolphins and he was studying this and then he said my dream is to go in space. And i said well great well one day he gives me a call, and were talking about several years there, uh where he said uh im going to nasa and uh im learning and he was in texas and then one day he calls me and he said they retained me. Im going to go and be one of the members going up in space uh to repair the Hubble Telescope and then he said and if youre interested were going to do all the repeat and you know the public needs to know that every astronaut is a scuba diver first. They experience being weightless. And everything they do in space to repair and so on, they do it underwater in the tank in texas. So he invited me to go and watch them repair the Hubble Telescope where they remove some computers, put new ones and so on. And i was there like a a visitor, but a great honor and then uh, several i guess a year later he called me and he said, im going in space. Uh would you like to be there . Id like you to be there when were going to take off. And uh i said sure, so i went to florida and i was there, but prior to that i said if youre going in space could you honor my dad who wrote the silent world . And i have a book that the first book that he ever wrote that he gave me and its signed, jacques cousteau. Can you take it up in space, because symbolically for me it its a way of connecting 70 of the planet to the [08 27 49] entire planet as you see it from space. And he said, yes. And so he took the book and i watched them take off and uh im so excited and honored because when they came back all the members uh of the uh space trip signed the book and it was certified by nasa. So um, for me theres one system and uh we all connected to that system and uh to be able to share this with the public for me is so important to realize that we have this amazing privilege of uh understanding the world we live in and how connected we are. How much are you getting in the water these days . Not enough but uh dozens and dozens. Ill be um soon diving for two weeks down in Baja California to uh work on the new show that we are working on which is called odessea which will be presented at the Film Festival in cannes next year. And uh odessea, sea at the end. And uh we are also uh going to go to French Polynesia uh in july so i divedivedive divedivedive and thats how i recharge my batteries. How long are you going to keep diving . Until i get to be 107. Why 107 . Because i started at 7 and i want to celebrate 100 years of diving. Can i go with you on that trip . Yes. Youve been watching talk to al jazeera. Jeanmichel cousteau thank you so much. Youre very welcome it was a pleasure and i hope well do much more. Im going to take you up on that dive. You got it. Television icon norman lear we hoped we were delivering real characters. Creator of all in the family the jeffersons and good times talks race, comedy and American Culture today. Youre taking me to a place in this interview, i havent been before. I told you this would be your best interview youve done. Every tuesday night. I lived that character. Go one on one with americas movers and shakers. We will be able to see change. Gripping. Inspiring. Entertaining. Talk to al jazeera. Only on al jazeera america. [ siren ] three days of mourning declared after a huge i. S. I. L. Car bomb kills more than 100 people in iraq hello, im adrian finegan, this is al jazeera, live from doha. Also on the programme defiance in tehran. The Supreme Leader will not change his countrys policy towards the u. S. A wildfire races across iowa, destroying cars and sending motorists running. One step at a time the