DO WE NEED ANOTHER HERO?
STEVE WEINMAN, EDITOR

IT USED TO BE BORINGLY PREDICTABLE that when people were asked how they got started in diving, they would say: "I used to watch those marvellous Jacques Cousteau films when I was a child, and said to myself that one day I would go diving too."

From the 1940s to the early '80s, Cousteau was the man. But those days have gone. That the family name continues to fascinate is clear whenever his son Jean-Michel appears at the Dive Shows, as he did in London in March. But if you're under 30, it's unlikely that you would ever have considered his father a hero, or even a role model.

Time and attitudes change. We live in the age of Blue Planet and Planet Earth, of heart-stopping camerawork and look-don't-touch reverence for the environment. The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey, out recently on DVD, reveals a documentary series that has been rendered something of a historical curiosity.

Cousteau was a diving hero to the public, with Hans and Lotte Hass probably his only challengers. But by the end of his career, underwater exploration was no longer a novelty, and today we have whole TV channels dedicated to wildlife documentaries and wreck specials.

So could anyone today capture the public's imagination as Cousteau did, and become a mainstream diving hero?

Ask someone to name a star of the underwater world, and who will be suggested? David Blaine? Jessica Alba? Nemo? It probably still comes down to Jacques Cousteau, a name now etched in folk memory.

Never mind the public, it's not even clear that divers themselves have heroes. I can think of quite a few self-proclaimed diving heroes out there, but while impressing yourself might be good for the ego, it's popular recognition we're talking about.

A hero is someone who shows special courage (that's another subject altogether), or is idealised for possessing what others see as superior qualities. But idealising others doesn't seem to come easily to divers. Healthy scepticism and rampant rivalry, yes - idolatry, no.

We set to discussing the subject at Diver recently, after someone asked how many years it had been since we last conferred one of our discretionary "Diver of the Year" Awards (quite a few, is the answer). We pursued the theme as we discussed suitably inspirational guests to invite to speak at the Dive 2006 show in Birmingham this October.

We weren't short of ideas for speakers, and we'll let you know who's coming next month (if, as we hope, they accept the invitations!). Are they role models? We believe so. Are they heroes? That's a big call.

The man who once wrote that "hero" is the shortest-lived profession on Earth also explained why we can't all be heroes - because somebody has to sit on the kerb and clap as they go by. Now that's real work for journalists!

So who should we be applauding in 2006, and will the public ever get another Jacques Cousteau? We're throwing the question open to you in this month's Big Question, and I can't wait to hear your answers.