Solo diving II. In the late 1940s, after the invention of the Aqua-lung by Cousteau and Gagnan, the first retail underwater breathing apparatus for sport was commercially marketed. As the sport expanded through the 1950s, several sporting organisations – notably the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) – began scuba training programmes for swimming enthusiasts, thus began the codification of what was believed to be proper practices for the expanding amateur sport of scuba diving. The buddy system was thought to be a useful corollary to the "never swim alone" edicts of the YMCA swimming and lifesaving programmes. Cousteau independently implemented a buddy
Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve On October 20, 1997 the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve (JC NERR) was dedicated in honor of Jacques Cousteau. The JC NERR is one of 26 National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) created to promote responsible use and management of our nation's estuaries. Estuaries, where the rivers meet the sea, are the wide lower course of a river where its current is met by the tides. This mix of fresh and salt water creates a unique and very productive ecosystem vital to life both on land and in the sea. The mission of the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve