EDITORIAL : BON VOYAGE.

FRENCH explorer and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau's world was wet and wild. That's the way he wanted to keep it. And thanks to Cousteau's pioneering work, hundreds of millions of people around the world became aware of the richness of the seas around them and the vital need to protect them.

Cousteau, who died Wednesday at the age of 87, helped perfect the Aqua-Lung, a self-contained breathing apparatus that freed divers from the bondage of air hoses and cumbersome helmets.

Cousteau became an international celebrity after he shared his diving experiences in his best-selling 1953 book, ``The Silent World.'' His feature-length documentary with the same title brought him more fame, winning the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956 and his first Academy Award a year later.

Cousteau went on to conduct expeditions all over the globe in his cramped ship, the Calypso. Millions of armchair explorers shared his adventures while watching television in the comfort of their homes.

Naturally Cousteau had his critics. Some said that he lacked scientific training. One biographer even accused him of mistreating animals and filming lobsters he purchased in France for a documentary about the Red Sea.

Cousteau, however, never pretended to be a scientist in the academic sense of the word. He described himself instead as an ``oceanographic technician.''

``The future of civilization depends on water. I beg you all to understand this,'' Cousteau said in January while receiving an award.

Cousteau's passion for the sea inspired people to do exactly that. That, we believe, is his greatest legacy.

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Photo: JACQUES COUSTEAU