The conference held in Brest in 2011 (Musard et al., 2014) marked a step forward for underwater seascape recognition, the term "seascape" being understood within the meaning of the European Landscape Convention, voted in 2000 by the Council of Europe, i.e.: "an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors". This underwater landscape, long imagined, fantasized about or ignored, suddenly emerged in Western culture in the 1950s, with the widespread use of self-contained underwater breathing apparatus and improved underwater filming techniques. From then on, stories became rife in literature, films and comic books, and within only a few decades, representations of this "new realm" morphed into an oceanic watershed (Artaud, 2023) that called into question the unrestrained exploitation of marine resources. The early diving tales from this post-war turning point illustrate this ambiguous relationship with underwater landscapes and animals, shifting from predation to empathy.

The conference held in Brest in 2011 (Musard et al., 2014) marked a step forward for underwater seascape recognition, the term "seascape" being understood within the meaning of the European Landscape Convention, voted in 2000 by the Council of Europe, i.e.: "an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors". This underwater landscape, long imagined, fantasized about or ignored, suddenly emerged in Western culture in the 1950s, with the widespread use of self-contained underwater breathing apparatus and improved underwater filming techniques. From then on, stories became rife in literature, films and comic books, and within only a few decades, representations of this "new realm" morphed into an oceanic watershed (Artaud, 2023) that called into question the unrestrained exploitation of marine resources. The early diving tales from this post-war turning point illustrate this ambiguous relationship with underwater landscapes and animals, shifting from predation to empathy.