The French petrochemical industry had been funding Cousteau’s adventures but were sadly less concerned with studying the seabed and more interested in exploiting it. When it was found in later years that industrial tasks underwater could be done just as well if not more efficiently by robots than human divers, it was to be the end of Conshelf. Cousteau famously publicised his regret in working with the petroleum industry on his projects. He had hoped that his manned underwater habitats might serve as base stations for future exploration of the sea, but alas, his dream of installing his colonies in oceans across the globe was never achieved.

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