Series synopses

Voyage to Kure I & II
Jean-Michel Cousteau and team travel to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a chain of islands and atolls that form one of the most remote places on Earth. 1,200 miles from Kaua’i, they are still a part of the more familiar Hawaiian islands, but many do not know that this last remnant of wild coral in the Pacific exists. However, while teeming with life and the unexpected, their isolation has not protected them completely from the modern world.

In Voyage to Kure Jean-Michel and his crew travel to the archipelago, exploring the outer islands on Searcher. In the spirit of his father's pioneering vessel, Calypso, Searcher carries the latest SCUBA and HDTV technology to better understand and document this unique ecosystem.

In order to truly understand this part of the Pacific Ocean, viewers are given a glimpse of the ancient Polynesian culture and the value it brings to modern times. Seen through the eyes of Jean-Michel’s new expedition team, continuing his family legacy of filmmaking, this ocean adventure comes alive and takes on new meaning.

Grey Whale Obstacle Course
Unchanged for 600,000 years, under constant threat of extinction, and with the longest and most polluted migration route of any whale species, the existence of the grey whale is nothing if not miraculous. Jean-Michel Cousteau’s team will follow grey whales through their entire migration route, from the nursery lagoons of Baja California to the frigid feeding grounds of the Bering Sea. Along the way Jean-Michel will explore the threat humans pose to the grey whale as well as the roles the whales have played in human cultures.

Sharks At Risk
Long-maligned as man-eaters, sharks are slowly losing their mythic reputation as tormenters of the deep because of unprecedented, up-close observation. Yet headlines of shark attacks continue to keep people out of the water. In Sharks At Risk, Jean-Michel Cousteau seeks to discover what threat these myths pose to the sharks themselves. Namely, are our misconceptions about this creature driving them to the point of extinction?

Jean-Michel and the crew begin their investigation in Rangiroa, French Polynesia, studying the gray reef shark. A reportedly abundant but sometimes aggressive species, the team observes the gray shark’s ferocious courting and mating rituals, 200 feet below the water’s surface.

The program concludes in the waters off South Africa, home to the great white shark. There, Jean-Michel explores the risks we must take in order to understand the species. Unprotected by a shark cage, Jean-Michel joins shark diver Andre Hartmann for a spine-tingling dive, bringing him close enough to touch these enormous and still mysterious creatures.

America’s Underwater Treasures I & II
America’s national park system has helped to preserve some of the most beautiful places on earth, as well as the species that call them home. Because America’s national treasures also exist below sea level, the National Marine Sanctuary is made up of thirteen underwater parks along the United States shorelines with landscapes and animals as diverse and extraordinary as those on land.

In America’s Underwater Treasures, Jean-Michel Cousteau takes viewers to all thirteen of these amazing sanctuaries, introducing us to these rarely photographed hidden gems, exploring their history, biology and environments, each deserving of our admiration and conservation.