Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 MICHAEL QUENTIN MORTON Introduction Sixty years ago, the research ship Calypso passed through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Arabian Gulf, marking the arrival of marine explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau to the region. In addition to its captain, the vessel had a French crew and divers, a Canadian geophysicist and an Australian geologist aboard. Cousteau’s purpose was to conduct a geological and hydrographic survey of the seabed as a preliminary to identifying suitable drilling sites, the irst phase in an exploration programme that would eventually lead to the discovery of oil. Cousteau later claimed that he had found the oil that turned Abu Dhabi from a little village to the modern city of today. Jacques Cousteau (1910–1997) accomplished many things. he co-inventor of the aqualung, he made the irst underwater colour ilm with Louis Malle, he World of Silence, which is recognised as one of the foremost natural history documentaries ever made. His popular US television series, featuring Calypso, was symbolic of the world’s growing awareness of environmental issues. He was also a scientist, his ship an oceanological research vessel that carried out many marine surveys around the world. Among his many expeditions, the Gulf survey stands alone. At irst glance, the choice of Cousteau to lead an oil prospection—he was neither a geologist nor a geophysicist—seems a curious one. Undersea techniques were still evolving, and his divers struggled to extract rock samples from the seabed. Perhaps the survey was not as signiicant as he later claimed, only a colourful footnote in the oil history of the region—how exactly should we view Jacques Cousteau and his expedition to the Arabian Gulf? his article examines a neglected aspect of the region’s oil history, the early exploration of the Abu Dhabi ofshore concession. Referring to published accounts and primary sources, including material from the BP Archive at Warwick University, the author outlines the development of oil exploration in the region, charts the progress of Cousteau’s survey and assesses its place in the discovery of oil in the lower Arabian Gulf. 3  Michael Quentin Morton A Pearlers’ Tale On 23 April 1904 the Assistant Political Agent in Bahrain, J. Calcott Gaskin, wrote to the Political Resident in Bushire about a strange tale he had heard from local ishermen. Late in the 1902 season, a pearling dhow was passing some ten to ifteen miles north of Halul Island when the crew saw an “agitation” on the water. Sailing closer, they found liquid bitumen (a black, oily substance) being thrown upwards to the surface, smearing the dhow’s hull as they passed through it. “If these statements are true,” concluded Gaskin, “it would appear that a natural spring of liquid bitumen or crude petroleum which occasionally is found in eruption, exists somewhere in the locality indicated and may be worth exploiting.”1 His letter resulted in a visit from geologist Guy Pilgrim, Deputy Superintendent of the Geological Survey of India, to the island. Pilgrim failed to detect any signs of bitumen, and could not recommend any mining operations in the vicinity until indications of oil had been found elsewhere in the Arabian Gulf. Otherwise, he noted, the reported seepage might simply be the “mere surface manifestations connected with a deep-seated and itful volcano activity”. He did, however, observe that oil might be found in Bahrain, and this is where the focus of oil exploration settled in the late 1920s.2 he Anglo-Persian Oil Company,* for many years the only major oil company operating in the area, was preoccupied with its Persian activities and showed no great interest in the lower Gulf, only a desire to exclude its rivals from the region. However, company geologist George Martin Lees and a survey party did visit Qatar in March 1926. On the voyage from Bahrain, they experienced a shamal, and rough seas forced them to seek shelter for the night in a small cave near Fuwairat on the north-eastern coast of the peninsula. Walking on the shore, Lees found a piece of shiny bitumen which, he concluded, supported earlier reports of submarine eruptions of oil.3 Lees was already aware of Pilgrim’s report of oil in the sea of Halul Island, and his discovery on the Fuwairat shoreline no doubt stoked his curiosity about the area. He became chief geologist of the company in 1930, and remained in that position until his retirement in 1953. hus, at a time when interest in the region was growing, Anglo-Persian had at its highest level someone who had seen at irst hand a tantalising clue to the possible existence of an ofshore oilield. Developments in ofshore exploration After oil was discovered in Bahrain (1932), Saudi Arabia (1938) and Qatar (1940), the scope of exploration extended further south and east. In 1939, Sheikh Shakhbut * Anglo-Persian became Anglo-Iranian in 1935, and then British Petroleum (BP) in 1954. 4  Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 bin Sultan al-Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, awarded a 75-year concession to an oil company, Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Ltd (PTDC). By Article 2 of the agreement, “the whole of the lands which belong to the rule of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi and their dependencies and all the islands and sea waters which belong to that area” were included in the concession.4 he wording of the agreement might have seemed clear-cut at the time; but the post- war years put a diferent complexion on the matter. he Americans were the irst to realise the signiicance of the new ofshore techniques, which opened up vast new possibilities under the seabed. A new concept in international law, the “Continental Shelf ”, emerged. Geologists used this term to denote an extension of the continental crust where the sea is relatively shallow. In 1945, President Truman proclaimed the United States’ right to exploit its continental shelf, extending its jurisdiction well beyond the traditional three-mile territorial limit. Other nations followed suit with claims over their own continental shelves.5 Fig. 1: he ideal proile of a continental shelf. he Arabian Gulf does not have “deep water”, so rulers claimed rights over the shallow waters “contiguous” to their shorelines. All this was highly pertinent to the Arabian Gulf. A post-war boom in global exploration had stimulated interest in ofshore prospects, especially in the Gulf where geologists suspected that oil-bearing rock formations might lie beneath the sea. By 1949, several large oilields had been found on the Arabian mainland, and there was a good possibility that these discoveries would extend beyond the shoreline. he Gulf ’s comparatively shallow waters were conducive to drilling and the oil companies, assisted by new techniques, were ready and willing to explore its seabed. In the same year the American oil company, Aramco, began marine seismic surveys around Safaniya, some 200 kilometres north of Dhahran.6 he idea of a continental shelf engaged the littoral sheikhs, setting of a chain reaction of proclamations and ofshore concessions. On 10 June 1949 Sheikh Shakhbut proclaimed jurisdiction over the seabed and subsoil contiguous to Abu Dhabi’s shoreline, including its portion of the continental shelf. As far as PDTC executives were concerned, the new area came within their company’s concession. Stephen Longrigg had already written to the sheikh tentatively claiming his company’s rights, but the sheikh demurred. In a bold move, on 2 December 1950 he granted an 5  Michael Quentin Morton ofshore concession to another company, Superior Oil of California. PDTC disputed his decision and the matter was referred to arbitration.7 his was a landmark case. Sheikh Shakhbut travelled with his brother Zayed to Paris for the arbitration hearing between 21 and 28 August 1951. Sheikh Shakhbut gave evidence, as did PDTC representatives, Longrigg and Basil Lermitte, about the negotiations that had taken place in Abu Dhabi. he umpire of the arbitration, Lord Asquith of Bishopstone, found in Sheikh Shakhbut’s favour on the basis that the sheikh could not have had the continental shelf in mind when he granted the 1939 concession. Lord Asquith ruled that the “ofshore” part of PDTC’s concession was limited to the three-mile line. Beyond that, in respect of Abu Dhabi’s shelf, the sheikh’s decision to award a concession to Superior Oil was upheld.8 here was another twist in the tale, however. In May 1952, Superior Oil was forced to withdraw for “inancial, political and economic grounds” from the Arabian Gulf, leaving Sheikh Shakhbut free to award the ofshore concession to another company.9 On 9 March 1953 he granted it to the D’Arcy Exploration Company, a subsidiary of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, for a down payment of 1.5 million rupees (about £2.7 million today) and an annual payment of 60,000 (£109,000).10 Named after William Knox D’Arcy, the British millionaire behind the irst discovery of commercial oil in the Middle East, D’Arcy Exploration had been created to explore for oil outside Iran. After Anglo-Iranian’s assets in that country were nationalised in 1951, D’Arcy was at the heart of the company’s new strategy to reduce its reliance on Middle East oil and seek new sources of crude across the globe.11 In 1954, in order to relect its transformation from a regional to global concern, Anglo-Iranian changed its name to British Petroleum (BP).** By this time, BP was already involved in Abu Dhabi, both on land and sea. he company held a 23.75 per cent share in the onshore concession through its participation in PDTC. he 65-year ofshore concession covered 30,370 square kilometres of Abu Dhabi’s continental shelf and required the company to undertake a certain amount of exploration work before the end of March 1954. he starting point was a marine geological and hydrographic (mapping) survey of the seabed, followed by a geophysical/seismic survey. Drilling was to commence within ive years. he company gave undertakings to the ruler to take precautions to protect navigation, pearling and ishing.12 he problem facing D’Arcy Exploration was how to identify oil-bearing structures underwater, a task that was diicult enough on land. Traditionally, a land-based ** For convenience, Anglo-Iranian/British Petroleum will be referred to as “BP” for the remainder of this article. 6  Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 geologist would look for hills, known as anticlines, which might betray the presence of underground oil traps. He would also collect rocks with a hammer, chipping of samples for detailed analysis in a laboratory at a later date. In Abu Dhabi territory, sand obscured rocks on the land, and water and sand obscured the rocks underwater. Among the challenges facing the company was how to collect rock samples from an undersea “desert” at depths of up to 250 feet. Geological surveys of the seabed had developed from land-based techniques. By 1953, there was a range of scientiic equipment to assist an underwater survey such as gravimeters, which measured variations on the earth’s gravity to identify anomalies in the earth; seismographs which detailed subsurface rock formations by recording relected and refracted energy waves from controlled explosions; and drop-cores, from which material inside the drill (the “core”) was extracted and examined by geologists.13 Enter Jacques Cousteau Born in 1910, Jacques Cousteau developed an interest in photography in his teenage years. He was about to qualify as a naval aviation pilot in his twenties when a serious road traic accident ended his lying career. With his right arm paralysed, he had to undergo several years of physical therapy. On the suggestion of a fellow oicer, Cousteau took up swimming in order to help his recovery. His interest in photography extended to ilming underwater scenes, which he was able to do by wearing goggles; but the time he spent underwater depended on how long he could hold his breath. he helmet and heavy suit apparatus used by professional divers of the time were also inadequate: the diver was attached to an air line from the ship, the equipment was cumbersome and mobility restricted. During World War II, when the Germans were rationing petrol in Paris, the French began experimenting with other fuels, such as cooking gas for powering cars and buses. Engineer Emile Gagnan, a friend of Cousteau’s, invented a device for regulating the injection of gas into the engine of a motor car. With Gagnan, Cousteau developed from this a breathing device called the aqualung. With a canister of compressed air, a regulator supplying a constant low of oxygen and a mouthpiece, the aqualung enabled a diver to breathe underwater for extended periods. his equipment was also known as a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba). It gave a fresh impetus to Cousteau’s interest in underwater ilming, and allowed him to develop his post-war interest in marine surveys of wrecks and archaeological sites. hus Cousteau’s invention would give divers greater freedom to explore underwater than traditional diving gear and opened up the possibility of using divers to collect rock samples from the seabed—precisely what BP and D’Arcy Exploration had in mind. 7  Michael Quentin Morton here was one other aspect that needed to be considered: a survey would require a loating platform as a base for its divers and equipment. Also, in those days, no one from the West would consider a four-month marine survey of the lower Gulf without taking a reasonable amount of supplies with them. he Shell Company of Qatar, which operated the ofshore concession for that country, had come up with the idea of sending a 4,000-ton converted cargo ship for its survey. his would act as a depot for men and equipment from which a number of smaller survey craft could be launched.14 Cousteau ofered a somewhat diferent solution. In 1950 he had found the ideal research platform, a former Royal Navy minesweeper that was being used as a ferry. he owner had named it Calypso after the nymph of the Greek Myths who captivated Odysseus. homas Loel Guinness, a British politician and friend of the Cousteau family, purchased Calypso and leased it to Cousteau for the nominal sum of one franc a year. he 360-ton, 140 foot-long, wooden-hulled ship with twin engines was perfect for Cousteau’s purposes: it had a low afterdeck for diving operations, and a shallow draught for access to areas such as coral reefs. He converted it into an oceanographic vessel with a bulbous prow that provided an underwater observation chamber with eight portholes for all-round viewing. he inance for the conversion work came from private companies, the French Navy and the Cousteaus themselves. Fig. 2: Calypso in the mid-1950s. © 2010 MIT. Courtesy of MIT Museum. 8  Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 In November 1951 Calypso made its irst scientiic voyage, sailing to the Red Sea to study corals. In the following two years, his team studied and excavated ancient shipwrecks, and tested new underwater cameras, but regular funding remained a problem. Having failed to secure a grant from the French government, Cousteau was at a low inancial ebb in the spring of 1953. Meanwhile, BP’s chief geologist had read Cousteau’s book, he Silent World, and thought that the underwater techniques it described might be used in ofshore oil exploration.15 Cousteau’s invention, the aqualung device, would give divers greater freedom to explore underwater than traditional diving gear. Cousteau had extensive maritime experience and could supply a ready-made survey vessel, divers and underwater photography. By using Calypso, D’Arcy Exploration could secure maps and rock samples from the seabed at a fraction of the cost of typical sea-exploring rigs.16 Here, perhaps, were the makings of a survey. here were some concerns about employing Cousteau, however. It was pointed out that, because he was not a British subject and regarded by some as a “showman”, his engagement might incur Admiralty displeasure. his might reduce the level of co-operation the company might receive from the Royal Navy in the future. It was also thought that Cousteau was temperamental, independently-minded and might be diicult to control. But, after the company considered the delay, cost and diiculties of trying to charter and it their own ship, the argument for using Cousteau and his ship for the survey was clinched.17 On 9 June 1953 Norman Falcon, geological manager (later chief geologist) of BP, wrote to Cousteau broaching the possibility of carrying out geological and hydrographic surveys of the Arabian Gulf: It appeared to us when reading your fascinating book, he Silent World, that the diving technique which you have so successfully developed and so admirably described, may have some geological applications. It would appear that it should be possible for a diver equipped with an aqualung to make geological observations and obtain specimens of rock from the sea-loor in a much more eicient and convenient way than could be done by the normal method of coring. We wondered, therefore, if you could assist us...18 In response to this letter, Cousteau’s father, a lawyer by the name of Daniel Cousteau, visited Falcon at his oice in BP headquarters, London. This led to further contact with Cousteau himself, and a meeting on 21 July 1953 between Cousteau and a senior BP geologist, Frank Slinger, on board Calypso, which was moored at Vieux Port, Marseilles. Although it seems that Slinger did not keep a record of this meeting, we have the Cousteaus’ recollections, which include the geologist’s appearance on 9  Michael Quentin Morton the deck and his introduction to Cousteau’s wife, Simone, who asked him: “Where is Abu Dhabi?”19 In those days, before the discovery of oil, few Westerners knew the region, which was called the Trucial Coast or, archaically, the Pirate Coast. Fig. 3: Commander Cousteau examines navigational charts. (source: BP Archive) 10  Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 As a matter of fact, the cash-strapped Cousteau was interested in the idea from the start; the proposed fee of £50,000 (later reduced to £45,000) would cover wages and expenses for 10 weeks’ work with enough left over to buy new equipment. Cousteau’s company (Compagnes Océanographique Française) received the contract. An Australian geologist with BP, Allan Russell, would lead a team of geologists on the survey. Russell knew little about the geology of the region, so Anglo-Iranian arranged for him to visit Dr Henson, a palaeontologist of the Iraq Petroleum Company in London in October 1953, and discuss the general stratigraphic development and tectonic issues of the Arabian Gulf.20 Meanwhile, it was arranged that a company called Geophysical Prospecting Ltd (Geoprosco) would provide the equipment and staf to operate the gravimeter equipment. he survey was to run for 10 weeks. Cousteau would accompany the ship during the irst four and last two weeks of the survey, together with Simone. At that time, Calypso was committed to another project, salvaging artefacts from ancient wrecks of the French coast. With an advance from BP, Cousteau could aford to buy a ishing boat to inish that assignment, and make plans and preparations to sail Calypso to the Arabian Gulf.21 After a series of delays caused by the reit work, a ire and radar troubles, the vessel was ready to sail in the New Year. he Abu Dhabi ofshore survey On 7 January 1954, Calypso left Marseille in a snowstorm, heading for the Gulf of Suez, where the crew tested the equipment and erected a folding anti-shark cage. After exploring the corals and sea life of the Red Sea, they ran into a spell of exceptionally bad weather. his forced them to seek refuge at Djibouti, a French naval base where they “all were glad to arrive”.22 he next port of call was Aden and a loating dock large enough to accommodate Calypso and raise her in order to repair the damaged the bilge keel. Once the work had been completed, they picked up Allan Russell and a Canadian geophysicist named Wallace Brown and proceeded to the Arabian Gulf, arriving on 5 February.23 11  Michael Quentin Morton Fig. 4: A map of the Arabian Gulf showing the approximate area of the 1954 survey and two subsequently discovered oilields, Umm Shaif (1958) and Zakum (1963). he vessel entered the Elphinstone Inlet, a jord of the spectacular Musandam Peninsula. he divers made a short underwater reconnaissance and found edible oysters, which they consumed with gusto. hen they sailed to the village of Sibi where, the following morning, the villagers came out in small boats to meet them, asking for water. Some made cutthroat gestures, causing some alarm among the crew until it was realised that they simply wanted razor blades. Cousteau was happy to supply fresh water and ofered the children chocolate, but they were unfamiliar with this and threw it into the sea.24 hey made their way to Bahrain, where they arrived after dark on 7 February in order to take on 150 tons of “gas oil” from the local oil company, Caltex. he bunkering arrangements at Manama were slow, resulting a delay of a few days. J. Harrison, a BP geologist based in Bahrain, met the survey while Russell took advantage of the delay to visit Shell colleagues in Qatar in order to make arrangements to calibrate the gravimeter. Calypso set sail for the lower Gulf on the 10th February.25 Calypso was equipped with a radar, gyro compass, automatic pilot, and echo sounder. he vessel would stop at locations (or “stations”) along parallel lines that were ive 12  Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 miles apart and 70 miles long. At every station the vessel was anchored, the position ixed by the surveyor, the gravimeter run to the sea bed and an observation made, and the seabed examined by one or other of the methods available. As the survey area was interspersed with islands which had been already been surveyed and beaconed by the Royal Navy, and the Decca radar had a range of up to 115 miles, it was possible to ix the position of each station with ease. Radar relectors were placed on islands such as Daiyina. Normally this island was not visible on the radar screen at more than eight miles, but with the erection of a 20-foot pipe and relector it could be seen at 32 miles. Small marker buoys, laid at convenient points, could also be seen on the radar screen at two to three miles when not visible to the naked eye. he port of Abu Dhabi was clearly identiiable at night at 25 miles. A few positions beyond the range of the radar were plotted by dead reckoning.26 Among the places they visited was Das Island, about 100 miles north-west of the Abu Dhabi mainland, which in those days was the occasional haunt of ishermen and pearl divers sheltering from storms. At irst, Calypso’s progress was delayed by the weather, but eventually the sea settled down and the sun came out, allowing the survey to proceed. At one point they were “buzzed” by a Shell Company aircraft, which was policing the boundary between the Qatar and Abu Dhabi concession areas. In fact relations between the two oil companies remained cordial, and personnel from the Shell Quest visited Calypso by launch. As previously agreed, they tested the accuracy of the gravimeter for the survey party, using a buoy close to Halul Island in order to calibrate the instrument. A Crusoe-like Englishman named Anthony Mould lived a solitary existence at a Decca station on the island, providing radio ixes for survey ships. Occasionally, he had unexpected visitors, such as the 200 pilgrims who had been shipwrecked on the island after a storm. He looked after them for eight days until the weather cleared and a ship could collect them. Others had not been so fortunate—Mould showed Cousteau a pearlers’ graveyard on the island with 22 graves, describing how each one had perished, two by shark attack and the rest by snake bite.27 We can gain an insight into operations on board Calypso from an 18-minute ilm, Station 307, which was ilmed by Louis Malle during the survey.28 his was before Malle became a world-famous ilm director, indeed he was a student when Cousteau invited him to join the survey. He qualiied as an aqualung diver on the voyage down to the Arabian Gulf, enabling him to ilm underwater. It was, according to Malle, a one-man show—he was cameraman, sound man and director all rolled into one. After the expedition was over, he returned to Paris to cut the ilm. It was a good education, since he went on to co-direct Cousteau’s documentary feature, he Silent World, which won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film festival and an Oscar for best documentary in 1956.29 13  Michael Quentin Morton In contrast, Station 307 is a workman-like production. Made for BP in black- and-white, it shows various operations during the survey. Cousteau sits with a geologist plotting their course to the next station, No. 307. On arrival, the crew drop the anchor and use a cone on the end of a rope to scoop up material from the seabed, which is examined by the geologist who decides whether this is a suitable location for collecting rock samples. If there is too much mud on the seabed, a jet sampler is employed to apply water under pressure to the sediments, clearing them away in order to expose the rock below. he bell-shaped gravimeter is lowered into the water using a diesel-powered winch and the geophysicist aboard the ship takes readings. he gravimeter is retrieved and the divers don rubber suits and scuba equipment for their descent to the sealoor. Meanwhile, on the deck, a hydrographer takes readings with his sextant. he echo sounder is used for mapping the seabed proile. he ilm is too short to record all aspects of the survey. he crew had discovered early on that underwater surveying was not an easy task. When they tried to use the drop-corer to extract rock samples from the seabed, they encountered a major problem. his heavy device, shaped like an elongated bomb with a steel pipe in its nose, was designed to be dropped over the side of the ship and pierce the seabed in order to retrieve rock samples. During tests in England, it had penetrated limestone to a depth of several inches but, in this instance, contact with the seabed made the pipe fold “like an accordion”.30 Calypso moved two miles farther on and the repaired corer was again dropped over the side, but this time it only brought up ine sand. Two more attempts on a hard seabed failed, each time the pipe coming back “as if bent by a giant hand”.31 For the harder surfaces, they abandoned the drop-corer and resorted to the traditional method for obtaining rock samples, a hammer and spike. It went like this. he divers descended to the seabed in their “elevator” (the anti- shark cage) and emerged to chip of rock samples with a hammer and spike. It was strenuous work, trying to wield a hammer in water that is 800 times the weight of air. he limestone rock was hard to penetrate, samples diicult to collect and the geologists were often unimpressed with the results. he divers then tried a pneumatic chisel, but as soon as the power was switched on, Dumas was propelled ten feet of the seabed. Also, the device could only knock of a few fragments of rock at a time, so they reverted to the hammer and spike, although this time the hammer was mallet-sized. Occasionally, Allan Russell would join the divers on the bottom.32 In the end, it proved to be the most efective method and the divers managed to obtain 150 rock samples from the 400 stations where observations were made. As we see from the ilm, the samples would be examined on board Calypso by one of the 14  Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 geologists under a microscope then catalogued and bagged up for further examination in BP’s laboratories in London. Palaeontologists could determine the age of the rocks from any fossils they contained, and geologists could use that information to map a structure beneath the seabed. here were other concerns. “he Persian [Arabian] Gulf is infested with sharks and the water is often murky,” Cousteau tells us.33 Indeed, the ilm shows several sharks circling the shark cage that Falco and his colleague, Dumas, used for protection. In one scene a diver is seen frantically signalling to his colleague to return to the cage in order to avoid the attention of a couple of sharks. hese precautions were probably unnecessary, however. here was no history of shark attacks in the relatively shallow waters of the Arabian Gulf and traditionally, it was sawish, not sharks, that pearl divers most feared.34 Cousteau was also worried about venomous sea snakes that could easily swim between the bars of the anti-shark cage but there were no attacks on the divers. In any event, as he acknowledged, the snakes’ mouths were so small that a fatal bite was a remote prospect.35 On 9 March, after a spell of bad weather, Calypso started a new line of stations towards the east. hree days later, the divers came upon a bed of pearl-bearing oysters. Once a mainstay of the local economy, the pearl industry was in terminal decline by this time, the victim of cultured pearls from Japan. It was, by now, a shadow of its former self: Louis Malle, who had managed to join one of the last pearling sambuqs on a voyage out of Dubai, ilmed nearly blind divers bringing up hundreds of oyster shells without a single pearl inside. It was easier for the Calypso divers wearing scuba equipment to scoop up oyster shells from the seabed but their pearls were small and worthless. Cousteau in his book he Living Sea mentions a “lopsided pearl” that his divers found outside the regular pearling grounds, which was later set in a ring for the iancée of the ship’s bosun, Albert Raud.36 15  Michael Quentin Morton IMAGES FROM THE COUSTEAU SURVEY Fig. 5: Jacques Cousteau (left) and his divers wearing aqualung (scuba) equipment. (source: BP Archive) Fig. 6: Using the gravimeter on the seabed. (source: BP Archive) 16  Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 Fig 7: Launching the drop-corer from the deck of Calypso. (source: BP Archive) Fig. 8: Divers descending to the seabed in the anti-shark cage. (source: BP Archive) 17  Michael Quentin Morton Fig. 9: he divers struggle to extract rock samples with a mallet and spike. (source: BP Archive) Fig. 10: Falco (right) hands a rock sample from the seabed to a geologist aboard Calypso. (source: BP Archive) 18  Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 here were some magical moments. he voyage had an allure of its own, causing Allan Russell to remark that one could lose all sense of time. here was a trance-like quality to the Gulf that Cousteau had not witnessed before: between the shamals, the sea was placid and, on the darkest nights, Calypso moved through a luminous soup, the water alight with glowing plankton and the lashes of “jelly barrels” below, the ship’s propellers leaving a long trail of silver froth in their wake.37 In mid-March, Calypso visited Bahrain, leaving on the 18th. he following day, the Decca radar gave trouble, so the vessel was unable to work far from the islands, and the eastern programme had to be abandoned temporarily. he problem was caused by crystal located in the scanner unit of the radar, and a replacement could only be obtained from London. Meanwhile, they worked in the western part of the concession, but poor visibility hampered operations. he new part was itted to the radar at Doha on 25 March but again bad weather—“the worst so far experienced”— intervened and the radar broke down again. To avoid any further hold-ups, they headed for Bahrain where a Decca engineer was stationed. Here the radar was inally repaired and Calypso returned to the lower Gulf on the 28th.38 On 11 April 1954 Sheikh Shakhbut and 20 of his retinue visited Calypso, which was lying some three miles of the coast of Abu Dhabi. Tim Hillyard, BP’s representative in the town, accompanied them on the company’s craft, the Faares. On arrival, they were greeted by Cousteau and his wife and given cofee. At irst the sheikh discussed ish and ishing prospects in the area, then he was shown the operation of the gravimeter. he divers gave a display in which he was much interested, and presented him with a number of coral lowers that they had had brought up. Finally, he visited the bridge where he showed a keen interest in the operation of the radar and echo-sounding equipment. He and his followers, together with a selection of crew members and other representatives, lunched on board the Faares, which was lying a short distance from Calypso. Sitting cross-legged at a traditional Arab feast, the guests enjoyed lamb-and-rice curry, fruit, sweets and other delicacies. he party broke up at about 4 p.m., with the sheikh and his retinue returning to Abu Dhabi. here they watched camel racing and a display of dancing by armed guards, some of whom had been brought from Tarif.39 19  Michael Quentin Morton Fig. 11: hrough a Lebanese interpreter (left), Jacques Cousteau discusses his work with Sheikh Shakhbut, who is studying Cousteau’s book, he Silent World. Simone Cousteau, the only woman on board, is also depicted. (Reproduced with permission of the BP Archive.) On 16 April, between the Das and Daiyina islands, the divers set up the last three stations. Falco made the last dive and, with the survey completed, Calypso headed to Bahrain, then south towards the Seychelles.40 Tim Hillyard wrote: Calypso came in on 17 April having achieved a total of 400 stations with which the technicians were satisied. his total had been achieved by exceptionally hard work during the last week of the operation and I understand that the ship’s personnel and our people were working night and day for quite a period.41 BP was satisied with the results, but it remained to be seen whether the Cousteau survey would lead to anything more than a twenty-minute ilm and a few colourful reminiscences. he discovery of oil As we have seen, when Cousteau sailed out of the Arabian Gulf in 1954, the future of ofshore exploration was in the hands of British Petroleum. On 18 May BP 20  Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 joined forces with Compagnie Française des Pétroles (CFP—later Total) to form an operating company, Abu Dhabi Marine Areas Ltd. (ADMA).42 he new company commissioned a geophysical/seismic survey by Geomarine Survey International with their seismic ship, the mv Sonic, which was conducted between 14 December and 23 April 1955. In early 1956, the Astrid Sven was dispatched to the Gulf. his was an ageing 1,200-ton freighter that the Nazis had used during the war to refuel their U-boats in the Indian Ocean.43 he vessel was reitted with living quarters for 30 personnel and was equipped to carry out further survey work.44 On the basis of these surveys, a decision was taken to drill the irst exploratory well on an old pearl bank known as Umm Shaif. Plans were drawn up to establish a base at Das Island and develop the use of helicopters for supply and transport purposes.45 Soon the island, once a barren, waterless, lonely place inhabited only by seabirds, scorpions, turtles and rats, would become a thriving outpost of the oil industry. here were many other issues to consider, such as a lack of experienced local labour, infrastructure and data about sea conditions in the Arabian Gulf.46 For the drilling platform, the company opted for a barge, the ADMA Enterprise, which was specially built in Hamburg. In addition to a drilling rig, the barge had assorted equipment and machinery, living accommodation for 50 men, an electricity plant, a distillation plant capable of producing nearly 800 gallons of fresh water every hour from sea water, and a helicopter landing platform. It was towed to the Gulf, where it was berthed in a man-made harbour at the southern end of the island. Drilling began in January 1958: the barge was moved some 20 miles to the location for ADMA Well No. l, the four 165-foot long legs were lowered onto the seabed, and the working deck was “jacked up” on these legs until it was clear of the sea. he Arabian Gulf suddenly had a new island.47 he irst oil was struck 10 weeks later at a depth of about 8,755 ft (2,668m) in the Lower Cretaceous hamama limestones and gas in a separate reservoir below the Hith anhydrite. he oil quality of the Umm Shaif ield was good (36° API) but— ironically—news of the discovery was greeted with “general gloom” in BP’s London headquarters on account of the global surplus of oil.48 he ield, a super-giant about 300 km2 in size, came on stream in 1962. A year later, an even bigger ofshore ield was discovered to the south-east of Das known as the Zakum ield.49 In the meantime, progress in the adjoining Dubai ofshore concession was slow. BP and CFP had created Dubai Marine Areas (DUMA) on 9 July 1954, but drilling did not begin until 1964 after the Continental Oil Company had acquired a 50 per cent share in the concession. he Fateh ield was discovered in 1966, but BP had no need of the oil and sold its share in DUMA to CFP in 1969.50 21  Michael Quentin Morton Fig. 12: ADMA Enterprise at Umm Shaif One in 1958. (source: BP Archive) 22  Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 Conclusion Jacques Cousteau received news of a major grant from the French government shortly after the survey had ended, which enabled him to continue his scientiic work aboard Calypso and, indeed, paved the way towards the fame and fortune that followed. He pursued several roles: explorer, conservationist, ilm-maker and author. Many books and ilms were produced about his work, and he received many honours, including Order of Independence from the Sheikh Zayed a year before his death in 1997.51 In contrast, Calypso has not fared so well over the years. On 8 January 1996, in the port of Singapore, she was rammed by a barge and sank. Having been raised and brought back to France, eforts were made to restore her but the project became embroiled in legal disputes and remains uninished, a sad reminder of the ship that once sailed the Arabian Gulf in search of hidden treasure. What was the signiicance of Cousteau’s survey? At a time when Aramco was prospecting in the northern Gulf and Shell was making plans to survey Qatari waters, expectations were high. By its concession of May 1953, D’Arcy Exploration was required to carry out an oil survey by the end of the following year. Using Cousteau and his divers provided a cost-efective and expeditious solution to the diicult problem of extracting rock samples from the seabed. Calypso provided a base for the expedition, a depot for its supplies and a scientiic platform for taking gravimeter, sonar and other readings. It was not without challenges. After the awe of Musandam, and overcoming the early challenges of underwater exploration, the crew were committed to a grid of survey stations and the discipline of numbers: 150 samples collected, 400 stations visited.52 In this, they exceeded BP’s expectation of 200 stations but, for the divers, the work was strenuous and repetitive, and Malle considered gathering geological samples from the seabed a “very boring thing”.53 here were storms, the water was unexpectedly cold, and concerns about sharks and sea snakes persisted.54 However, never one to hide his lamp under a bushel, Cousteau later claimed that they had found the oil that turned Abu Dhabi from a little village to a modern city.55 Cousteau noted that the gravimeter survey had revealed anomalies in several areas of Eocene rock formations, thus persuading ADMA to carry out a seismic refraction survey the following year.56 We now know that the oilields of Umm Shaif and Zakum showed up as gravity anomalies on the survey because they overlie blisters of low-density salt at a depth of seven to eight kilometres. Oil and gas has accumulated in multiple reservoirs where rock formations have folded over the blisters. Islands like Das and Halul are on salt domes that have made all their way to surface.57 23  Michael Quentin Morton Despite the initial reservations about his character, Cousteau proved to be a good choice to lead the party. He was experienced in ofshore exploration, and inventive at solving problems. His survey, on the other hand, although adventurous and successful within its own remit, had mixed results. Geologist Samuel Elder provided an objective view in his article, “Umm Shaif Oilield: History of Exploration and Development” (1963), describing the outcome of Cousteau’s work as follows: It was the irst attempt to use aqualung diving for geological surveying, and the fact that the results were not of signiicant value is not a relection on the method of the divers, but rather on the nature of the seabed. No rocks older than Pleistocene were found, and no structural tends were apparent. he topological survey revealed an uneven sealoor, but the signiicance of highs and lows is not yet apparent. he gravity survey, however, was of considerable value by continuing into the concessional area the major gravitational trends which had already been established on the adjacent land. he general gravitational picture was of great assistance in formulating a programme for a seismic refection programme which formed the second step in exploration....58 According to Elder, it was the seismic survey conducted aboard the MV Sonic that resulted in the selection of a location for a test well. his was not quite the same as Cousteau discovering the oil himself but, in the circumstances, perhaps he might be forgiven his light-hearted claim. In the inal analysis, Calypso expedition serves to remind us that the discovery of oil is rarely the work of one individual, but rather the result of a team efort over a number of years. hat Cousteau and his team played a signiicant part in the Abu Dhabi story is worth recording as an episode in the UAE’s progress towards prosperity. Yet Cousteau and his crew had little inkling of the great transformation that was on the cards since the sea would retain its oleaginous secrets for a few years more. We can picture Calypso setting sail for the deep blue waters of the Indian Ocean, leaving in its wake a region largely untouched by the petroleum age; but in the light of the new dawn, the discovery of oil, many things would change. Acknowledgements he author wishes to thank Dr. Alan Heward and Peter Morton for their kind assistance. 24  Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 Endnotes 1. Calcott Gaskin, J., holograph, 23 April 1904, IOR/R/15/1/317. 2. Pilgrim, Guy E., report of 9 June 1905, IOR/R/15/1/317, and “he Geology of the Persian Gulf and the Adjoining Portions of Persia and Arabia”, Geological Survey of India, 1908, pp. 113–4. 3. Lees to the chief geologist, 5 March 1926, BP Archive 135500. Lees’ visit was followed in 1927 with a reconnaissance by Messrs. E.J. White and M.H. Lowson of the islands of the lower Gulf: “Preliminary Report on the Gulf islands Reconnaissance l927 (Anglo- Iranian Oil Co. Ltd. unpublished report). 4. Abu Dhabi: Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Limited: Agreement dated 11 January 1939, BP Archive, Warwick University, ref. 164314/001–6. 5. Proclamation 2667 – “Policy of the United States With Respect to the Natural Resources of the Subsoil and Sea Bed of the Continental Shelf ”, 28 September, 1945, he American Presidency Project: <http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=12332> accessed 15 February 2014. 6. he History of Ofshore Oil and Gas in the United States, National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Ofshore Drilling (2012), pp. 21–5; “Safaniya Field”, Aramco World, August/September 1962, Vol. 13, No.7, pp. 3–7. 7. Longrigg, letter dated 25 March 1949, cited in MacChesney, Brunson, International Law Situation and Documents (Washington, 1957), p. 154; “Land beneath the sea outside territorial waters”, ile 0629/2, IOR/R/15/4/10; Hawley, Donald, he Trucial States (London, 1970), p. 215. Superior Oil had drilled the irst well in the Gulf of Mexico in 1938 and had a wealth of expertise in ofshore exploration. For the Qatar concession, the company was in partnership with the London-registered Central Mining and Investment Company Ltd and operations were carried out by a Canadian-registered irm, the International Marine Oil Company Ltd. 8. he full judgement appears in MacChesney, Brunson: International Law Situation, pp. 137–55. he case subsequently gained a certain notoriety in the Arab world because of the arbitrator’s decision to apply Western legal principles in preference to Abu Dhabi’s Sharia-based law. 9. Superior Oil’s withdrawal from oil operations in the Persian Gulf, see FO 371/98431; Qatar and General, Continental Shelf, BP Archive ref. 35947; Loganecker, memorandum of 6 June 1952, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952-1954. he Near and Middle East, p. 597. 10. Anglo-Iranian Oil Company negotiations with Sheikh of Abu Dhabi over marine oil concessions, 1952, FO 1016/176–7; “Persian Gulf —Continental Shelf ”, 6 May 1952, BP Archive ref. 72088; “Report of Negotiations” by G.G. Stockwell, BP Archive ref. 124449. 25  Michael Quentin Morton 11. Bamberg, James, British Petroleum and Global Oil 1950–1975: he Challenge of Nationalism (Cambridge, 2000), p. 106. 12. Agreement between His Excellency Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan Sheikh of Abu Dhabi and the D’Arcy Exploration Company, BP Archive ref. 52062; Stockwell to Cousteau, 17 December 1953, BP Archive ref. 119157. 13. Pratt, Joseph A., Priest, Tyler, and Castaneda, Christopher J., Ofshore Pioneers: Brown & Root and the History of Ofshore Oil and Gas, (Houston 1997), pp. 34–6. 14. “Ship for underwater oil search”, Shipbuilding and Shipping Record, 10 September 1953, Vol. 82, p. 341. 15. Matsen, Bradford, Jacques Cousteau: he Sea King (New York, 2009), p. 129. he identity of the “chief geologist” referred to is not entirely certain. George Martin Lees retired through ill health but continued as a consultant until his demise in 1955; his successor Peter Cox took over Lees’ duties at some point during 1953. 16. Munson: he Captain and His World (London, 1989), p. 77. 17. Slinger to the chief geologist, 27 July 1953, BP Archive ref. 4651. 18. Falcon to Cousteau, 9 June 1953, BP Archive ref. 4651. 19. Munson, Richard, Cousteau: he Captain and His World , p. 76. 20. Wellings to Cox, 19 October 1953, BP Archive ref. 119157. 21. Matsen: Cousteau, p, 131. 22. Cousteau, D.P., to Sutclife, 28 Jan 1954, BP Archive ref. 119157. 23. Cousteau, J. V., he Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau, (1978), p. 26. 24. Cousteau, J.V., “Calypso explores for underwater oil”, National Geographic Magazine, of August 1955, Vol. CVIII, No. 2, p. 161, Diole, Philippe, and Falco, Albert, he Memoirs of Falco, Chief Diver of Calypso, (London, 1976), p. 67. 25. Harrison to Slinger, 10 February 1954 BP Archive ref. 79054. 26. Report to H.E. he Ruler of Abu Dhabi on a Survey in the Abu Dhabi Marine Concession Area, February - April 1954, BP Archive ref. 4651. 27. Cousteau, Jacques, with Dugan, James, he Living Sea, p. 127–7. 28. he ilm is accessible at the BP Video Library: <http://www.bpvideolibrary.com> accessed 28 February 2014. 26  Calypso in the Arabian Gulf: Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea Survey of 1954 29. Duchovnay, Gerald, Film Voices: Interviews from Post Script (New York, 2004), p. 227. 30. Diole and Falco: he Memoirs of Falco, p. 67. 31. Ibid. 32. Ibid; Owen, E.W., Trek of the Oil Finders (Tulsa, 1975), p. 1346. 33. Quote from Station 307 (00.09.45). 34. Wellsted, James R., Travels in Arabia (London 1838), Vol. 1, p. 266. 35. Diole and Falco: he Memoirs of Falco, p. 67; Cousteau and Dugan, he Living Sea, p. 127. 36. Diole and Falco, he Memoirs of Falco, p. 71; “lopsided pearl”, Dugan and Cousteau: he Living Sea, p. 125. 37. Cousteau and Dugan: he Living Sea, p. 125. his bio luminosity is a well known phenomenon in the Arabian Gulf, although its efects can be alarming with shapes resembling rotating wheels, bubbles of light and phosphorescent waves reported: Staples, Robert F., “he Distribution and Characteristics of Surface Bioluminescence in the Oceans”, US Naval Oceanographic Oice, March 1966. 38. Russell to D’Arcy Exploration. 28 March 1954; Harrison to D’Arcy, 28 March 1954, BP Archive ref. 4651. 39. Tim Hillyard, “Visit of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi to Calypso”, 15 April 1954, BP Archive ref. 00029990. 40. Diole and Falco: he Memoirs of Falco, p. 72. 41. Hillyard to Stockwell, 20 April 1954, BP Archive ref. 29990. 42. CFP took a third share of the new company. 43. <http://www.combinedleet.com/Bogota_t.htm.> accessed 29 March 2014. 44. Petroleum Times (1956), Vol. 60, p. 113. 45. Smith, Norman J., he Sea of Lost Opportunity: North Sea Oil and Gas, British Industry and the Ofshore Supplies Oice, (Oxford, 2011), pp. 37–8. 46. he British Petroleum Co Ltd, Abu Dhabi Marine Areas Ltd - Report on Ofshore Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico : Abu Dhabi Exploration, Saurin, B F , BP Archive ref. 7021. 27  Michael Quentin Morton 47. “Das Island”, BP Archive ref. 72088. 48. Bamberg: British Petroleum, p. 207. Oil density is graded by the American Petroleum Institute (‘API’). On the API scale, 36º is deined as a medium crude, light crude is 38º or more and heavy crude 22 º or less. 49. Morton, M.Q., “he Abu Dhabi Oil Discoveries”, GeoExpro, issue 3, vol. 8, 2011, pp. 52–56. 50. Bamberg: British Petroleum, p. 207. 51. “Hamdan Hears Plans to Refurbish Calypso”, he National, 27 January 2009. 52. he number of methods used were as follows: gravimeter 400; dredge 389; grab 106; jet Sampler 54; drop-corer 145; diving 133; pneumatic drill 8; photography 20, see Report to H.E. he Ruler of Abu Dhabi, p. 4. 53. Duchovnay: Film Voices, p. 227. 54. Cousteau: “Calypso Explores for Underwater Oil”, National Geographic Magazine, of August 1955, Vol. CVIII, No. 2, p. 165. 55. Calypso Log, June 1985, cited in Munson, p, 78. 56. Cousteau and Dugan, he Living Sea, p. 129. 57. Ali M.Y., Watts, A.B., Farid, A., “Gravity Anomalies of the United Arab Emirates: Implications for Basement Structures and Infra-Cambrian Salt Distribution”, GeoArabia, Vol. 19, No. 1, 2014, pp. 85–112. 58. Journal of the Institute of Petroleum, Vol. 49, No. 478, October 1968, pp. 308–315. Extract used with the kind permission of the Energy Institute, United Kingdom. 28