Last night, Jean-Michel Cousteau -- grandson to Jacques; an explorer and naturist in his own right; and member of the Scuba Hall of Fame -- showed us what he's got. And man, has he got something! The first of his new six-part, high-def series on PBS debuted last night. Part trip report and part nature special, Ocean Adventures is pretty much what you'd expect from a Cousteau: a high-quality nature-mentary documenting the state of the ocean, showcasing killer nature footage, and filled with a sense of wonder.

Part I takes Cousteau and his team part way up the 1200-mile-long chain of islands known as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, on the way to Kure Atoll, the most remote of the protected island chain. On their journey deep into the Pacific, Cousteau and his crew will spend 6 six weeks aboard their research vessel in search of bigger fish...and bigger fish populations. Their hope is to see what a thriving marine ecosystem -- one in which humans have had virtually no impact over the years -- looks like.

So was the special good? Uh...does Jacques talk with a funny accent? Shah...you bet it was good. However, as the episode closed, I found myself wanting more -- more answers, more footage, more awe. Could Jean-Michel be a victim of his family's own success?

The show opens with the crew of 20 preparing for their 6-week-long trip aboard Searcher. Outfitted with everything from many (many!) cases of wine to their own deco chamber, the crew needs to be completely self-sufficient. Traveling in tandem with NOAA's Manacat, which will serve as the group's dive boat, they set off to explore the 10 islands and more than 100 reefs and shoals that make up the chain. Before shoving off from Hawaii, however, they participate in an ancient Polynesian farewell celebration in which Jean-Michel, slightly weepy, says they are making his father proud, and that this trip marks the "time to recognize that our life support system needs help...and so do we." (OK...so it was a bit overwrought, but it was a tender moment, nonetheless.)

The group's first stop is Mokumanamana, a windswept black island jutting nakedly out of the sea. To Polynesians, the island is sacred. To a jaundiced, Western eye, though, it's just a harsh environment, and Cousteau keeps asking what would make someone come here to worship, as the Polynesians have for 1000 years. During their exploratory dives, the group sees thriving populations of large sturgeon, chubs, jacks, white tip reef sharks, eels, and rare snails. The ocean footage they provide is, in a word, incredible. The colors pop (three cheers for HDTV!), and the animals approach the divers easily. After two dives, the explorers venture onto the island, to inspect the nearly three dozen ancient shrines still there. Aside from the shrines, though, all they really find on the outcropping is plastic that birds have brought over the years. It's a sad reminder of how destructive humans can be...even in areas where they don't live. Cousteau hauls some of the plastic away...in a plastic bag.

Their next stop is to French Frigate Shoals, a large atoll/island combination with the richest coral colonies in the chain. First, they head to Rapture and Serendipity Reefs, where the enjoy some fine diving, seeing spotted rays and an unusual fire urchin. Next they head to Tern Island, a research station for the Fish and Wildlife Service. Only a 1/2-mile-long, Tern Island is nevertheless home to over 20,000 birds, including masked boobies (tee hee) and golden plovers. Because of the high bird population, the sky is literally black, and the birds' cries are omnipresent. (I would go insane if I worked there!) The team also investigates a nearby atoll that serves as a nesting ground for an estimated 50% of the area's green sea turtles and they dive with the region's unusual monk seal. With a population believed to be around only 1500, the monk seals inspect the divers...and then zoom away in a flash. Before leaving French Frigate Shoals, Cousteau heads to La Perouse Pinnacle, where they break out the rebreathers and take some measurements of table corals, to establish baselines against which to measure other, more human-impacted coral systems.

Next, it's on to Rata Bank, a sea mount some 700 miles from Hawaii. Amazingly, they stumble upon a fisherman illegally long-lining in the area. After calling the Coast Guard, the fisherman is busted. (I mean, what are the chances that you're an illegal fisherman and you get busted by Cousteau!?) Filled with apex predators like jacks, tuna, and sharks, Rata Bank provides some of the episode's most dynamic underwater footage...

...but nothing like Maro Reef, which closes the show. The largest coral reef in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Cousteau and his team are on the hunt for the area's famed Galapagos sharks. Cousteau must be living right, because they find hundreds of Galapagos sharks. Sometimes dangerous, the sharks don't bother them at all, though, and the swirling, schooling imagery that closes the episode sets the stage for Part II of their journey -- which is scheduled for next Wednesday! -- during which the team ventures even farther into the chain.

During the hour, I found myself riveted, sitting on my sofa slack-jawed. I was amazed by the footage, entranced by the animals, and as wondrous as Jean-Michel. However, I wanted...more. I found myself asking questions that were obvious and should've been answered. For example, was the coral that they wanted to establish as a baseline really healthier than coral growing in more human-impacted environments? They didn't say. Was long-lining in the area really destroying fish stock? No answer. Was garbage appearing all these hundreds of miles doing damage, or was it insignificant? Nothing. Of course, they don't want to give away all the goodies on the first night, but I wasn't totally filled with Cousteau-goodness when the show closed. Nevertheless, I'll certainly tune in next week, in hopes of learning the answers to my questions. Do I expect too much, simply because he's a Cousteau? Is he a victim of his family's success?

Did you watch? What did you think?