Sir David Attenborough almost killed by faulty scuba diving equipment

Sir David Attenborough has detailed an unsettling incident in which he nearly drowned when scuba diving.

The natural historian and broadcaster, 99, first appeared on screens in the 1950s, when he presented natural history programmes including Coelacanth and Zoo Quest for the BBC.

His TV credits now span eight decades, with Sir David since presenting shows including Wildlife on One, The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, as well as the newly released film Ocean.

However, he’s now recalled a moment early in his career when he came close to a deadly situation.

Speaking to Prince William at an event to promote his new documentary Ocean, Sir David was presented with an open-circuit helmet.

Picking it up and putting it on his head, he spoke about testing a scuba diving outfit while filming on the Great Barrier Reef in 1957.

‘When I put mine on for the first time I suddenly felt water and thought, “this can’t be right”. But by the time the water got about there I thought, “I’m sure this is not right”,’ he said.

‘Of course, you’ve got this thing screwed on top of you and you can’t breathe or make yourself heard. I was saying “get it off me”.’

Sir David then spoke about the director leading the documentary initially refusing to take his concerns seriously.

‘He grabbed it and said it was fine, but I again said there was a fault, and he put it on, and I’m happy to say, he went underwater and came up even faster than I did, because there was actually a fault on the thing,’ he added.

During the discussion Sir David also described his first dive as a ‘sensory overload’ and commented on how the reefs he first visited decades ago had now been devastated. 

‘The awful thing is that it’s hidden from you and from me and most people,’ he said.

‘The thing which I was appalled by when I first saw the shots taken for this film, is that what we have done to the deep ocean floor is just unspeakably awful.”

‘I mean, if you did anything remotely like it on land, everybody would be up in arms. If this film does anything, if it just shifts public awareness, it’ll be very, very important, and I only hope that people who see it will recognise that something must be done before we destroy this great treasure.’

The pair spoke as part of the promotional launch for Ocean, which sees Sir David ‘drawing on a lifetime of experience to reveal Earth’s most spectacular underwater habitats, showing that we’re in the greatest age of Ocean discovery and highlighting its vital importance’.

Sir David said he hoped the film could ‘expose something new’ and encourage viewers to act to save the destruction of the ocean.

Despite his indelible impact on the world and environmentalism, last year his producer Mike Gunton told Metro Sir David hated being called a ‘national treasure’.

‘He hates it, by the way,’ he said.

‘I say hates it… If anybody says he’s a national treasure, he sort of slightly raises his eyebrows and says, “Really?” That’s a generational thing.’

When it was noted Sir David’s work is of far greater importance than a title, Mike responded: ‘You’ve hit the nail on the head.’

Ocean with David Attenborough is now screening in cinemas nationwide, and airs tonight, Sunday, June 8 at 8pm on National Geographic and is streaming on Disney Plus too.

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