Clipperton Island

Clipperton Island (French: Île de Clipperton or Île de la Passion, Spanish: Isla de la Pasión) is an uninhabited 6 km² (2.3 sq mi) coral atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean, 1,080 km (671 mi) south-west of Mexico, 2,424 km (1,506 mi) west of Nicaragua, 2,545 km (1,581 mi) west of Costa Rica and 2,260 km (1,404 mi) north-west of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, at 10°18′N 109°13′W / 10.300°N 109.217°W / 10.300; -109.217 (Clipperton Island). It is an overseas minor territory of France under direct authority of the Minister of Overseas France.

It is low-lying and largely barren, save for scattered grasses and a few clumps of coconut palms. A small volcanic outcrop rising to 29 m (95 ft) on its south-east side is referred to as "Clipperton Rock". The atoll has been occupied at various times by guano miners, would-be settlers or military personnel, mostly from Mexico, which claimed it until international arbitration awarded it to France in 1931.

Clipperton has had no permanent inhabitants since 1945. It is visited on occasion by fishermen, French Navy patrols, scientific researchers, film crews, and shipwreck survivors. It has been a popular site for transmissions by ham radio operators.

Jacques Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau AC (French: [ʒak iv kusto]; commonly known in English as Jacques Cousteau; 11 June 1910 – 25 June 1997) was a French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. He co-developed the Aqua-lung, pioneered marine conservation and was a member of the Académie française.

Cousteau described his underwater world research in a series of books, perhaps the most successful being his first book, The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure, published in 1953. Cousteau also directed films, most notably the documentary adaptation of the book, The Silent World, which won a Palme d'or at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. He remained the only person to win a Palme d'Or for a documentary film, until Michael Moore won the award in 2004 for Fahrenheit 9/11.

Biography

"The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before,
the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat."