Washington, D.C.– In recognition of his life-long commitment and global influence on the appreciation of our ocean planet and its stewardship, and the establishment of the Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument in the N.W. Hawaiian Islands, Jean-Michel Cousteau was honored by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation at their Annual Leadership Awards Dinner on June 3 in Washington, D.C.

“Whether you ask a sixty-year old or a six-year old, they have experienced the ocean through the works of Jean-Michel.” said Bob Talbot, Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and celebrated photographer and film maker. “He has helped establish public awareness and compassion for our ocean planet in a way that transcends global boundaries and generations, inspiring people to care about the stewardship of our ocean life.”

Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the famous Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau, has been educating and influencing generations of ocean advocates and would-be explorers around the world. Well ahead of his time, as a trained architect, Jean-Michel’s designs embraced what has now become common-place in the architectural world of ‘Green Design’. Although significant, his land-based career would be short lived, returning to the sea in the late 1960s where he began organizing and documenting the now famous ocean travels aboard the Calypso. Jean-Michel has been revisiting some of these famous travels - documenting the changes over time that have resulted from human impacts. Through Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society his PBS Ocean Adventures documentary in 2006, Voyage to Kure, inspired President George W. Bush to designate the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as the first National Marine Monument.

“I’ve always believed real change comes from the heart. To make real change, you must appeal to the heart. That’s what I have always tried to do through my films – inspire curiosity and a sense of responsibility through the heart,” said Cousteau.

Repeatedly nominated for Emmy awards and winner of the prestigious Peabody Award for his documentary work on the Mississippi, Jean-Michel has produced over eighty-five television specials and continues his work as executive producer, film-maker and explorer of marine and ocean issues. Traveling the globe to lecture to tens of thousands of students on ocean issues, Jean-Michel and his team are dedicating all of their energies to guiding the Ocean Futures Society into one powerful “Voice for the Ocean.”

The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation’s Leadership Awards Dinner is held in conjunction with the 2008 Capitol Hill Ocean Week, a three-day symposium that features ocean policy experts from government, private industry, nonprofits and academia. Participants seek to raise awareness of the important ocean and coastal issues among our nation’s leaders and to build bridges among various ocean constituencies.