The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau

Overview

The intrepid undersea explorer and author circles the globe on his floating laboratory, Calypso, in this occasional series. A pioneer in marine study, the red-capped Frenchman introduced generations of landlubbers to the creatures and mysteries of the sea.

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Episodes

S01E01 Sharks

January 8, 1968 50 min
Captain Cousteau and his ship the Calypso visit the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden in order to study shark behaviour and to test methods of protecting shipwreck and air crash...

S01E02 Savage World of the Coral Jungle

March 6, 1968 50 min
The team travels to the coral reefs of the Indian Ocean, an area teeming with animal and plant life, and where numemous complex relationships between different species are played out on a daily basis. Cousteau...

S01E03 Search in the deep

April 15, 1968 50 min
The island ot Europa, in the Mozambique Channel between Africa and Madagascar, is the foremost breeding ground of the mysterious sea turtle. The crew's cameras follow the turtles' mating rituals, the females' laboured journey up...

S01E04 Whales

November 15, 1968 50 min
The Calypso divers study finback, sperm and killer whales, monitoring their migratory habits by planting small tags in their skin. Captain Cousteau also recounts the romance and legend of the great whales. Cousteau and his...

S01E05 The Unexpected Voyage of Pepito and Cristobal

January 13, 1969 50 min
Captain Cousteau and the crew of the Calypso adopt a pair of fur seals off the Cape of Good Hope. During an Atlantic crossing the men begin to establish a relationship of trust and friendship...

S01E06 Sunken Treasure

March 3, 1969 50 min
The crew sets out on a treasure hunt to the Caribbean in search of the wreck of La Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion, a Spanish ship that sank over 300 years ago carrying more than...

S01E07 The Legend of Lake Titicaca

April 24, 1969 50 min
The divers travel inland to Peru's Lake Titicaca, testing experimental techniques for diving at high altitude for the first time. Deep in the lake they discover a unique species of frog whose lungs have atrophied...

S01E08 The Desert Whales

October 28, 1969 50 min
The Calypso crew follows 35-ton California gray whales on their annual breeding migration. The crew of the Calypso studies the little-known California grey whale, as this once-endangered species embarks on its 5,000-mile annual breeding migration....

S01E09 The Night of the Squid

January 16, 1970 50 min
The crew observes as 20 million squid amass in coastal waters to mate, spawn and die. In the waters off southern California the Calypso happens upon the savage, yet touching, spawning ritual of the sea...

S01E10 Return of the Sea Elephant

February 8, 1970 50 min
Cousteau and his team study the life and death of the sea elephant, a massive sea mammal which returns each year to the small island of Guadalupe for ritual combat, mating and breeding. Finally, the...

S01E11 Those Incredible Diving Machines

March 10, 1970 50 min
The history of underwater exploration is traced from the days of Alexander the Great to the development of the aqualung in 1942, the first bathyscaphe in 1948, the diving saucer in 1959, through to a...

S01E12 The Water Planet

March 28, 1970 50 min
After more than 140,000 nautical miles travelled aboard the Calypso, and having shot around two million feet of film, Cousteau shares his personal thoughts on the challenges they face filming the infinite phenomena of the...

S01E13 Tragedy of the Red Salmon

November 24, 1970 50 min
The Cousteau team follows the spawning migration of the red sockeye salmon from the open sea to the Alaskan waters of their birth, up the Salmon River to remote Fraser Lake.

S01E14 Lagoon of Lost Ships

May 14, 1971 50 min
Truk lagoon in the South Pacific, the site of a fierce battle during WWII, is now home to around 50 sunken Japanese vessels. The crew explores the Pacific lagoon to learn how marine life adapts...

S01E15 The Dragons of Galapagos

February 24, 1971 50 min
The crew journey to the Galapagos Islands to study the marine iguana, a mysterious dragon-like creature that has reversed the course of evolution and returned to the sea for food and survival.

S01E16 Secrets of the Sunken Caves

March 19, 1971 50 min
The strange geological phenomenon of 'blue holes' is investigated by Captain Cousteau and his team, as they discover an undersea 'cathedral' one hundred feet below the surface.

S01E17 The Unsinkable Sea Otter

September 26, 1971 50 min
In the North Aleutian Islands, Cousteau and his crew observe the rough courtship and tender mating of the sea otter, before continuing to Monterey where the otter's existence is being threatened by man-made hazards such...

S01E18 The Forgotten Mermaids

December 21, 1971 50 min
The crew travels to the cypress glades of East Florida to film the manatee, a vegetarian creature of the sea whose closest living relative is the elephant. Learning of the plight of 'Sewer Sam', a...

S01E19 Octopus, Octopus

January 24, 1972 50 min
The crew studies the eight-armed octopus's life cycle and ongoing evolutionary process.

S01E20 A sound of dolphins

February 25, 1972 50 min
The crew isolates a pair of dolphins to study the species' remarkable sonar system.

S01E21 A smile of the walrus

November 5, 1972 50 min
The crew films the walrus lolling on Arctic ice floes and swimming in the frigid sea.

S01E22 500 million years beneath the sea

January 11, 1973 50 min
The crew dives at night to observe the Nautilus -- a living marine fossil.

S01E23 Hippo!

February 16, 1973 50 min
The crew swims among crocodiles to capture the quick-tempered hippo in action beneath the water.

S01E24 The singing whale

March 12, 1973 50 min
The Calypso crew records the plaintive, melodious songs of migrating humpback whales.
South to fire and ice

S01E25 South to fire and ice

November 29, 1973 50 min
The crew climbs glaciers, examines whale bones and watches a volcano.
The flight of penguins

S01E26 The flight of penguins

January 21, 1974 5.5 50 min
The crew observes penguins feeding, mating and raising young.

S01E27 Beneath the frozen world

March 3, 1974 50 min
The crew dives below the ice, and sails above in a hot-air balloon.

S01E28 Blizzard at Hope Bay

March 22, 1974 50 min
The disabled Calypso becomes trapped during a three-day blizzard.

S01E29 Life at the end of the world

50 min
The Calypso sails to Tierra del Fuego to film the disappearing Qawashqar Indians.

S01E30 Beavers of the north country

January 6, 1975 50 min
Underwater cameras capture beavers at work and resting in their dams during winter.

S01E31 The coral divers of Corsica

November 15, 1975 50 min
Cousteau studies the rapidly disappearing red-coral forests of the Mediterranean Sea.

S01E32 The sleeping sharks of Yucatan

November 15, 1975 50 min
Cousteau investigates reports of sharks seen resting in underwater caves.

S01E33 The sea birds of Isabella

50 min
The crew journeys off the coast of Mexico to Isla Isabela to study tropical birds.

S01E34 Mysteries of the hidden reefs

50 min
Cousteau explores the beauty and life of an ancient and complex ecosystem.

S01E35 The fish that swallowed Jonah

50 min
Calypso's divers search Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula for different species of groupers.

S01E36 The incredible march of the spiny lobsters

50 min
Lobsters gather annually at Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula for a migratory journey.

Cast

Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Self - Host

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