Mission
Voyage to Kure documents Jean-Michel Cousteau’s team expedition to a remote
island chain, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The film chronicles the exploration of
one of the last pristine coral reefs in the Pacific, a glimpse of paradise before
people. The Cousteau team discovers that they are not alone in their quest to know these
living oases. A group of modern Polynesian sailors also sets out to travel the 1,200 miles
to the outer islands in a traditional sailing canoe led by renowned navigator, Nainoa
Thompson. In the end, both Cousteau and Thompson are driven by the passion to protect these
natural treasures and pass on cultural traditions to a new generation.
Goals:
- To launch an exciting and innovative expedition in the Cousteau tradition, showing
the interconnectedness of all species on and around these remarkable islands, and the
Polynesian culture, which has been so important to life in the Pacific. It will also
document how valiant efforts to save these pristine islands from human destruction have
helped restore some of the last wild places on Earth.
- To show people around the world the most remote islands on the planet; the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to the last remnant of wild coral in U.S. waters,
where rare corals and vibrant reef marine life abound.
- To increase public awareness of the importance of creating an action plan for the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands - one of the nation's unique marine and cultural treasures.
It is the site of one of the oldest National Wildlife Refuges, the
Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge,
designated in 1909 by President Theodore Roosevelt. On December 4, 2000, the Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve was created by an executive order and is
managed by NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary Program.
- To bring together Jean-Michel Cousteau and Nainoa Thompson, two legendary explorers with
a common goal - to preserve and protect the outer islands of the Hawaiian Archipelago. The
ten tiny spots of land that arc out 1,200 miles from Kaua'i seem like insignificant real
estate, but they are blanketed with the nests of more than fifteen million seabirds, their
beaches are crowded with Green Sea Turtles and rare Monk Seals, and their fringing reefs are
thick with coral fish and sharks. The outer islands are also the last of the nearly pristine
environment that was home to the ancient Polynesian culture, the people that explored and
settled the Southeastern Pacific.
- To chronicle exploration of this remote and wild environment, uncovering stories of
native people who once were inhabitants, and its exploitation by outsiders.
- Continue a forty-year tradition of groundbreaking documentary television. The Cousteau
family is legendary for ocean exploration and film making, beginning in the 1960's with
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. In Voyage To Kure, Cousteau's Ocean
Futures Society team continues to set the standard for innovation in underwater television
production value using the latest in lighting technology and high definition video to create
a program of breathtaking beauty.