Ocean explorer Gilles Fonteneau has been a long-time champion of the sea and its inhabitants. He was as a member of Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso ocean exploration team for many years before setting out on his own. On his first maritime mission in 2001, Fonteneau measured the movement of the tectonic plates of the Caribbean. With such information gathered, he was hoping it could be of use in preventing a tsunami disaster in the area, such as the one that devastated Southeast Asia in 2004. Although he was met with resistance at first, Fonteneau was able to accomplish his mission of planting GPS devices on the area.Fonteneau’s second maritime study involved the support of NASA and the Bacardi Family Foundation. His mission was to study the erosion of the coral reefs in the Caribbean waters, which produced adverse and devastating effects to the marine life all over the world. The study also proved that coral reef erosion also has its own sets of negative impacts to the economies of the surrounding Caribbean countries.The Bacardi Family Foundation has been a strong supporter of Fonteneau’s maritime research in the Caribbean waters and has heavily funded his scientific underwater expeditions. With financial aid from the Bacardi Family, Gilles Fonteneau has been able to fit his 45-foot catamaran, Prince de Vendée, with the latest technological equipment.Fonteneau’s third expedition has proven that fishes do communicate by sound and this was later confirmed by the New York Times. His findings have proven to be valuable in the field of maritime study.Fonteneau has written all his experiences as an ocean explorer in a book titled Murmurs from the Deep.Sources:With the backing of NASA and the Bacardi Family Foundation, he and his scientific crew members set out to study the erosion of coral reefs in the area, which is slowly devastating not only fish populations but all marine life, and has enormous consequences for the economies of Caribbean countries.With backing from the Bacardi Family Foundation, he outfitted a catamaran with plenty of technological equipment and, it seems, bottles of rum.