Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. Fabione Gusteau had some big shoes to fill or finns as it were. As the grandson of famed sea explorer, conservationist, and Scoopa pioneer Jacques Cousteau, Fabion spent his early days aboard his grandfather's ships Calypso and Alcione, and felt drawn to the oceanic
family legacy. Today he's fulfilling that dream with Proteus, which he calls the world's most advanced underwater scientific research station and habitat to address humanity's most critical concerns medicinal discoveries, food sustainability, and the impacts of climate change. We spoke with Custo via email. He said there wasn't pressure placed on me to follow in the family fin steps, but growing up diving, starting at the age of four, and then taking adventures on the Calypso made for the most
incredible class room. I learned so much from my grandparents and the other crew members. Having that access to the ocean and its marine life was unparalleled. Today, I maintain that same wonder I had as a kid. I'm still in awe of observing everything that the ocean has to offer and teach us. What the ocean has to teach is largely still unknown. According to Cousteau, only five percent of it has been explored. With Proteus, he's hoping to
change that. A project of the Fabian custo Ocean Learning Center, Proteus was conceived as the underwater version of the International Space Station. Upon completion, the project will serve as a collaborative platform for researchers, government agencies, and corporations throughout the world. The concept was born from Mission thirty one, a June expedition that set a record for the most days lived underwater,
breaking Jacques thirty day record by just one day. It took place at Aquarius, the world's only underwater marine laboratory as of now, which is located nine miles or fourteen klometers off the coast of the Florida Keys and sixty three ft or nineteen meters beneath the sea surface. The journey produced twelve scientific studies and nine thousand, eight hundred published articles from universities including Northeastern m I t In, the University of North Florida and it sparked the idea
for Proteus. Becausto said, Proteus was very much a three am dream. After visiting oceanographer Dr Sylvia Earle on Aquarius and then leading Mission thirty one, there, I saw that more was needed to accommodate aquanauts for longer, and that more could be done to address additional needs that come
with underwater living. The goal is to make Proteus approximately eight times the size of Aquarius and address the multitude of challenges that a company underwater living Like cooking, Custo explained, you can't cook with open flames underwater, but Proteus will have the first underwater greenhouse, which will allow us to grow fresh produce, and living underwater you burn three times
as many calories as you do on land. Culinary adventures aside, Proteus is set to transform the landscape of ocean exploration when it does debut, though no official launch date has been announced. It will be located off the coast of Carasau in a bio diverse marine protected area in the Caribbean, about sixty feet or eighteen meters beneath the surface of the water. Will encompass four thousand square feet that's seventy square meters of space and accommodate up to twelve research
scientists at a time. It will be made available for academics, private companies, scientists, and non governmental organizations that are involved in ocean exploration and research and development. It will also contain a video production studio, allowing the teams to create videos on site and also live stream with classrooms and learners of all ages around the world. Cousto said it starts with more people making the connection between the ocean
and humans. The ocean is where life itself originated, and it regulates so much of what we experience all of the time every day, from providing oxygen to nourishment to provide adding countless jobs and trade and tourism. The live streams of Proteus will offer will lead to more people understanding what is going on down there is very much connected to what's experienced up there on land every day.
Proteus will be the first in a series of underwater habitats leading to unparalleled research and discoveries and allowing for global collaboration amongst the most brilliant minds. As Cousto and his team continue to work toward building this new frontier in ocean exploration. He regularly reflects on his family legacy. As I continue to learn and discover more about the ocean, I keep in mind my grandfather's quote. People protect what
they love. They love what they understand, and they understand what they are taught. Today's episode was written by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by Tyler Flang. For more on this and lots of other curious topics, visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart rate you app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows