HER name rings a bell. Being a marine explorer, filmmaker and conservationist is already in her genes.
Yes, she is a Cousteau, she is Alexandra Cousteau. Who would forget her grandfather, Jacques Cousteau, who “sailed the world for much of the late 20th century, educating millions about the Earth’s oceans and its inhabitants—and inspiring their protection?” the National Geographic.com described him in its tribute for his birth centennial in 2010.
Indeed, the elder Cousteau educated the world, this journalist included, about protecting the oceans. Articles about his underwater activities have become part of the horde of materials this journalist has used as reference on the issue, like a bible or have published many moons ago.
The elder Cousteau heralded the world with his pioneering underwater documentaries, including the Oscar-winning films The Silent World, The Golden Fish and World Without Sun.
And of course, he is also known for his invention, along with Emile Gagnan, of the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus or scuba, known as Aqualung, which made life under water possible.
Third-generation Cousteau in the marine exploration and conservation advocacy, with her father Philippe also has followed her grandfather’s interest.
Alexandra Cousteau, a National Geographic emerging explorer, filmmaker and globally recognized advocate on water issues, is in town to promote awareness on sustainable fisheries management and the global fight against illegal-fishing practices.
Her trip to the country, as part of her being a senior advisor of Oceana, is made more exciting because she will go on a diving trip to El Nido, Palawan, which her grandfather explored in his ship Calypso in the early 1990s.
Alexandra brought along her family, including her 5-year-old daughter and 11-month-old son. Her daughter is equally excited as she will snorkel there for the first time.
“Coming here to the Philippines is quite special to me, especially the visit to Palawan, which my grandfather has explored,” Alexandra told reporters at a briefing hosted by Oceana, the largest international advocacy organization on ocean conservation, early this week.
It is a “legacy I would be able to share with my child. It is beautiful, the love for the oceans, conservation,” she said.
Calling El Nido “a museum,” which would remind one of what the ocean used to be everywhere, Alexandra will be working on a documentary. Alexandra will be looking at the impact of climate change and illegal fishing practices in El Nido’s coral reefs and the livelihoods of the residents, said Oceana, to which she has been a senior advisor for four years now. At Oceana “we have a vision that we will be able to have enough quality change…to stop illegal fishing.”
Alexandra told the BusinessMirror her becoming an ocean-coservation advocate was not forces on her, but it was a “gradual thing…a long time ago” because “the places I love as a child are disappearing, and it broke my heart.” When asked if her children have insterests in following her footsteps, “if they want to,” she said.
She added: “My daughter is sensitive to environmental issues. I didn’t brainwash them, of course, but she is my daughter, she sees what I do, she’s been in the expditions since she was 2 months old, we talk about nature, she goes to a forest in a kindergarten field all day. My goal is for her to fall in love with nature, and to enjoy nature, and make her own choices.”
Her advocacy has also affected her lifestyle. She does not eat fish or meat because “I know so much about the fish and meat industry and it turns me off, and I just don’t want to be a part of it.
“There is a lot of seafood fraud, illegal fishing, and I don’t know where the fish is from…though I was never a huge fish eater anyway. I don’t miss it at all, to be honest. Though I have nothing against meat, I have nothing against fish. In fact, I think eating fish is a huge part of our climate solution, if we can stop overfishing, we can have more fish, that’s my goal, people should eat more fish, healthy fish, fish that are old enough to be sustainably caught…to be sustainable and enough left for other creatures in the ocean.”
In her visit to the Philippines, Cousteau will meet with top national officials and the private sector to push for marine conservation and support for programs that would make threatened Philippine fisheries rebound and become more sustainable.
She will also meet representatives from academe, the youth and, most important, local communities who are the frontliners in the campaign to save and protect the oceans. Actually, she has talked with Sens. Cynthia A. Villar, Pia S. Cayetano and Risa Hontiveros-Baraquiel. She has met to Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez, and has talked with Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources National Director Eduardo B. Gongona.
In Cebu and Negros she will be asking for support to implement the enforcement plan in Tañon Strait, the country’s largest marine protected area.
Cousteau will be exploring the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape, where Oceana is working to end illegal-commercial fishing and ensure that artisanal fishers will benefit the most from their municipal waters.
She will be diving in Moalboal in Cebu, where the year-round presence of sardine shoals is one of the top attractions in the thriving tourism industry.
She will interact with community leaders on Apo Island in Negros Oriental, whose partnership with the government, private sector and civil society in protecting their rich marine resources has become a model for protected areas.
Cousteau will talk about Oceana’s global campaign, “Save the Oceans, Feed the World,” at the Silliman University in Dumaguete, and at the University of Cebu Banilad Campus in Cebu City.
“Tañon Strait is one of the top marine biodiversity hot spots in the country. A strong monitoring mechanism is necessary to ensure that our marine wealth is protected against illegal commercial and destructive fishing,” said Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos, vice president for Oceana Philippines.
Ramos said that, despite the area’s protected status, many challenges persist, including overfishing, conversion of coastal habitats to industrial uses and pollution. These activities destroy fish habitats and populations, and adversely affect the livelihood of artisanal fishers.
Danny Ocampo, campaign manager of Oceana, said Tañon Strait is an important habitat and migratory route for 14 species of marine mammals, including spinner dolphins, dwarf sperm whales, pygmy killer whales and spotted dolphins. It is also one of the country’s major fishing grounds, sustaining 43,000 fishers.
Oceana said in its press kit that last year, the Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional the oil exploration, development and exploitation of petroleum resources within the Tañon Strait between the Department of Energy and the Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd. The drilling was to take place in a 2,850-kilometer area.
“[This] is what I want to give to my daughter…an ocean that is abundant for our children.
“Here in the philippines, it is the center of marine biodiversity. [I want] to learn more about the issues here and to add my voice to advocate for that future
“This is the time to act [in promoting awareness on sustainable fisheries management] not tomorrow, it is not the next day. It is today…. We have the window of opportunity to bring the kind of changes to bring back a diverse and abundant ocean that would benefit our fishermen, our children, the whales and sharks, and dolphins, that will benefit us all,” Alexandra said.
Image credits: Carlos Suarez/Oceana, Oceana