Sir David Attenborough, 98, addresses nearing ‘the end of his life’ in powerful new film

Sir David Attenborough becomes reflective about his life in a powerful new documentary film about the health of the world’s ocean.

Coinciding with the broadcaster and biologist’s 99th birthday, Ocean with David Attenborough exposes the challenges facing our ocean from destructive fishing techniques to mass coral reef bleaching.

But it is also a ‘story of optimism’, with the Blue Planet star, 98, making the case that our oceans can ‘recover to a glory beyond anything anyone alive has ever seen.’

During Ocean, Attenborough addresses how treatment of the ocean has changed since he was a young boy to now, as he ‘approaches the end of my life.’

He explains that in his childhood, the prevailing wisdom was that the ocean needed to be ‘tamed and mastered’ for the betterment of humanity, but that has been revised in his later years.

Attenborough says: ‘When I first saw the sea as a young boy, it was thought of as a vast wilderness to be tamed and mastered for the benefit of humanity.

‘Now, as I approach the end of my life, we know the opposite is true.

‘After living for nearly a hundred years on this planet, I now understand that the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea.’ 

In the film, Attenborough describes the ocean as ‘Earth’s support system’ and ‘our greatest asset against climate change’, while stressing the importance of environmental and conservational efforts to maintain its delicate ecosystem.

‘Today, it is in such poor health I would find it hard not to lose hope were it not for the most remarkable discovery of all,’ the Planet Earth creator continues.

However, Attenborough later explains how the sea can ‘bounce back to life’.

‘If we save the sea, we save our world,’ Attenborough says.

‘After a lifetime of filming our planet, I’m sure nothing is more important.’

Attenborough’s first ever TV credit as a presenter was on the 1953 BBC show Animal Patterns before he was granted his own programme, Zoo Quest, the following year.

It ran for seven seasons over nine years, sending Attenborough to far-flung locations including Borneo, before it came to an end in May 1963.

Two years later, he was named the brand new chief controller of the freshly launched BBC2, which had first broadcast a year earlier.

During his four-year tenure as the head of Britain’s second-largest TV channel, Attenborough commissioned The World About Us – a natural history documentary series that lasted for 19 years.

Then, through the 1970s and 1980s, he returned to a more traditional presenting role, fronting TV programmes that travelled to New Guinea, the Netherlands, and the Mediterranean.

In the 21st century, Attenborough became best known as the narrator and presenter of Planet Earth, which was, at the time, the most groundbreaking series ever produced about the natural world.

Ocean with David Attenborough is releasing as a Global Cinema Event from May 8. It will also be made available on National Geographic, Disney Plus, and Hulu later this year.

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