Alcyone

The Alcyone is the second research vessel of the Cousteau Society, named after a daughter of the Pleiades and the Greek word for kingfisher. Launched in 1985, it was a bold engineering experiment: Jacques-Yves Cousteau had the ship fitted with turbosails — motor-driven rotating cylinders that harness wind energy and dramatically cut fuel consumption compared to conventional vessels. Over the following decades it sailed every major ocean, supplying footage for Cousteau Society documentaries. Now preserved as a historic memorial, it offers visitors a rare look at the engineering philosophy underpinning Cousteau's oceanographic work — a floating argument that marine conservation and technological ambition could go hand in hand.