The film documents the decline of his finances and fortunes and banks pull out as the era of 'robotics' and automation begins as a more plausible financial investment than Cousteau's ideas of civilizations living under the sea.

While he was influential and ambitious, he is revealed to be disloyal to his wife Simone, who remains on the Calypso year-round while Cousteau travels extensively.

A major trip to Antarctica sees him working with his son and loyal crew, to make films he has promised to his investors and producing essential revenue as his business was failing.

The death of Philippe on 28 June 1979, in a PBY Catalina flying boat crash in the Tagus river near Lisbon is the low point in Cousteau's life.

Cousteau is shown to be a popularizer of the hidden wonders of the sea, and the person who raised the most awareness of the ocean and the need for environmental protection for many decades.