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'If we focus on protection, we buy time. And in that time, nature begins to heal.'
Sir David Attenborough’s epic ode to the seas. Picture Supplied
It is not on land, but under the sea, where Sir David Attenborough said, lies the most important place on Earth.
After producing and narrating wildlife and natural heritage documentaries for most of his life on the planet, the master storyteller has been deeply affected by the careless destruction of our oceans.
In a new documentary, Oceans, Attenborough lends his voice to a visual and scientific account of what we stand to lose should the world continue to neglect the seas, but also what we could still save, if we acted quickly.
Directed by Toby Nowlan, Oceans is more than a film. He said that it is a visual confrontation to audiences, captured over two years and filmed across the globe.
From the wild Pacific to the Mediterranean, from the kelp forests of California to the bleached remains of coral reefs, the documentary offers a view into worlds that many will never see or never really comprehend.
Nowlan said the reason is simple.
“The ocean is out of sight, so it becomes out of mind,” he said. “We cannot breathe underwater, and we do not spend time down there the way we do on land, so we have no idea what is happening below the surface.”
Devastation of marine ecosystems
The documentary features footage of bottom trawling, a fishing method that has devastated marine ecosystems yet remains legal in many parts of the world.
Heavy nets are dragged along the ocean floor, destroying habitats and scooping up everything in their path, including unwanted species and animals.
This occurs, even within supposedly protected marine zones.
“We released a ninety-second clip of it on social media to premiere some of the challenges captured in the film,” Nowlan said.
“Within a week, tens of millions had seen it. That was more than any of the scientists or even the people working on those boats had ever witnessed. That is the power of bringing these images to the screen.”
And the potential muscle it must change mindsets.
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For marine biologist and National Geographic explorer Enric Sala, the experience of working on Oceans was very personal.
“We are destroying our life support system,” he said. “But I have seen what happens when we protect even small parts of the ocean. Life comes back. Coral reefs recover. Fish populations return. It works. It is the one thing that works.”
Absolute dedication to conservation
Sala left academia nearly two decades ago to dedicate his life to conservation.
During his sortie, he has helped create some of the world’s largest marine reserves through his Pristine Seas initiative.
Yet, he said that the challenges facing the oceans have grown more severe.
“People feel overwhelmed when they hear that we need to fix everything at once,” he said. “But if we focus on protection, we buy time. And in that time, nature begins to heal.”
A key moment in Oceans is a narrative showing the most extensive coral bleaching event ever caught on film. Coral bleaching occurs when ocean temperatures rise, causing corals to expel the algae they rely on for food and colour, leaving them weak, pale and at risk of dying.
“It happened while we were filming,” said Nowlan. “We activated crews across the globe, in the Maldives, Florida, Australia, and Mexico, to capture it.
“We had a very short window to show it in its full, white devastation. But we also followed what happened afterwards, and the reefs that were protected began to recover. Not all of them, but enough to prove that it can be done.”
We can still save our seas
Sala said we can still save our seas.
“Marine protected areas make ecosystems more resilient. If we manage to reduce carbon emissions and give the ocean space, it will meet us halfway. But we must act now.”
Nowlan said not everything in Oceans is doomsday. “There is a lot of bad news out there,” said Nowlan. “People switch off when they feel like everything is doom. This film had to offer something else. Not false comfort, but proof. Tangible hope, too.”
The good news is told via successes.
The largest school of yellowfin tuna ever filmed appears in the documentary, a species once thought too elusive to benefit from marine reserves.
Yet, off the coast of the Phoenix Islands, populations surged by more than fifty percent in surrounding waters after protection measures were introduced.
Working with Attenborough on Oceans was incredible for Nowlan.
“I have worked on several of his documentaries before, but this one is different,” he said. “This is Sir David’s most personal project. He said so himself. And when he speaks about the ocean, you can feel that it is not just about the science or the visuals. It is about the future. He believes this is the last great frontier where we can still make a difference.”
Oceans airs on National Geographic on 13 June and is available on Disney+ from 8 June.
