Aquaman.(Q&A: PHILIPPE COUSTEAU JR.)(Interview)

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Underwater explorers Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his son Philippe captivated audiences with their pioneering documentaries on marine life. Philippe Jr., 29, is filling his predecessors' flippers as co-host of the Discovery Channel/BBC-TV series Oceans and cofounder of EarthEcho International, a Washington, D.C.--based nonprofit (earthecho.org). This generation's ocean advocate spoke recently about the powerful environmental force behind youth activism and new media.

Audubon: You and your sister, Alexandra, founded EarthEcho in 2000. What's its mission?

Cousteau: To empower extraordinary leaders to take action to protect and restore our oceans. Oceans are a primary source of oxygen, a source of protein for up to two billion people, and they regulate our climate--which, in turn, regulates most of our water supply. They're the critical life-support system of this planet but get way too little attention.

What's the biggest environmental threat to oceans?

The output of carbon into the atmosphere, which is causing both ocean acidification and climate change.

How does EarthEcho prepare kids to tackle those problems? Our program, Leadership Ocean, is working with existing youth organizations and developing learning opportunities to identify a small number of the brightest kids and help add the environment--and specifically oceans--to their set of knowledge. One strategy we use is peer modeling, so we're also targeting pop culture heroes ...