Jaques Cousteau: Red Sea pioneer

Jacques Cousteau arrived in the Red Sea on board his ship, the Calypso, in the 1960s. He documented shark activity in the Southern Egyptian Sea, but his lasting monument still survives off the coast of Sudan: the Conshelf two, an underwater capsule designed for five me to live in for a month – 35 feet below the surface.

As well as being pioneer, journalist, writer and film-maker, Cousteau was also a prolific inventor. His most famous invention is probably the aqualung, but he invented many other gadgets, machines and constructions – including his series of underwater habitats.

The Red Sea project '  was preceeded by the Conshelf 1, set up in 1962 on which two men had successfully lived for a week, diving underwater for five hours each day, then returning to the undersea capsule to eat and sleep. Cousteau began preparing a more ambitious project.

Conshelf II was the next year and was essentially a small village, built on the floor of the Red Sea at ten meters depth. The main house, the " Starfish ", stood next to an aquarium a garage for the diving saucer and an equipment hangar. A deep station was installed 15 meters further down. Five 'oceanauts' lived for a month in the Starfish base. Plexiglas windows with views of the local flora and fauna, and gourmet meals washed down with cognac Two people qlso spent a week in the deep station. Again, the project was successful and Cousteau began talking about a third project.

The Conshelf series proved that human beings can live under the sea for long periods of time but that, even though they have the physical and psychological capabilities, humans are not made to exist in a world without sun. Nevertheless, these experiments gave rise to the training astronauts undergo today before leave earth.

Cousteau returned to the Red Sea many times, ranking it his favourite diving area in the world. His books, articles and films perhaps did more than anything else to make the fledgling diving community aware of the wonders that lay below the surface of the Red Sea.