Despite living on a major planet that is two - thirds covered by water , even today we still have it away more about the surface of Mars than we do about what is going on under the airfoil of our own oceans .
Over a decennary after the first serial grace our screens , Blue Planet IIreturns to give us just a small shot of what consist beneath the waves . The breathing time - taking documentary engage us on a whirlwind tour from the frigid polar sea of the north to the aery seawater lake of the abstruse . But there are mo here that are tinged with lugubriousness .
“ The nearest I came to tears when recite the full series is when you see those shots of the Great Barrier Reef , ” recounts David Attenborough , who give to the helm to narrate the newfangled series , and has chatted to IFLScience . With the past few twelvemonth screen the big surviving structureto breaking pointas ocean surface temperature mouse up , the future of the Rand balance on a precipice .
“ If you ’ve ever swum on the Barrier Reef , if you ’ve ever take in the nimbus , the multicoloured variety , the astonishments of a flourishing Barrier Reef which is one of the most beautiful , thrilling , mystifying sights that the world has to offer ; if you ’ve ever experience that , and you now look at this desert of white , crumbling , dead precious coral and think of what was once there , that ’s something that brings tears to the eyes , ” Attenborough laments .
Over the retiring 20 years , Attenborough ’s documentaries have taken on an increasingly political overtone , aimed at highlighting the shock that threats such as man - made climate change and the ever - burgeoning orbicular population are have on the raw cosmos . And they have a real impact .
Blue Planet IIhas already been sell to 30 unlike countries before the series has even polish off airing , and Attenborough believes that the constitutional secret to the success of his programmes is that natural history documentaries have the power to puff multitude from across the age spectrum .
“ It ’s the sweetheart of it , ” he tells us . “ Usually I get 10 - 20 letter a Clarence Shepard Day Jr. and during this series that will probably go up to 40 . But the astonishing matter is the range of the great unwashed who write . ” From seven - year - onetime tiddler postulate him about dinosaur to professor of economics quizzing him about the finer details , “ that just shows you the breadth of the appealingness . ”
It ’s now 65 years since a brilliant - eyed 26 - year - old David Attenborough first appeared on our goggle box concealment with a abbreviated 10 - instant program about the discovery of a prehistoric Pisces off the coast of Africa .
That was December 1952 and Attenborough had been working at the BBC for just two month , albeit as a next-to-last manufacturer as the head of factual broadcast medium at the time thought his teeth were too big to make the tier as a presenter .
But then thecoelacanthbecame newspaper headline newsworthiness . Not only had it previously been think to have gone extinct with the dinosaurs some 65 million years earlier , but the discovery had sparked latent hostility between the French and South African government , with France claiming that the African fishermen had caught the creature in its water .
“ I was told that given my university education as a life scientist , it was my duty to put on and present a programme in the next workweek to explicate to the public what all the flap was about , ” he call back . “ Ten to fifteen mo they said . ”
“ And from there I ’ve hold up on to work for the BBC all my sprightliness . ”
The latest offering from Attenborough has already prove to be a smash strike , with the opening episode ofBlue Planet IIattractingover 14 million viewersin the UK alone , and it ’s not even finish its foot race yet . Now 91 , Attenborough is narrating the 7 - part geographic expedition of the worldly concern ’s oceans , filling Sunday night with a bona fide mixture of rude wonders never before film .
From gargantuan trevalliesleaping uninfected from the waterto take down newbie terns , to the esthetically ungainly sexual urge - alter Kobudai wrasse off the Japanese coast , or the icy declivity 1,000 meters down tothe seafloor of Antarctica , there are plenty of astonishing present moment to catch .
After over half a 100 in the wildlife documentary business , you might opine that Attenborough would be difficult to impress , but it seems that the BBC Natural History Unit has manage it again .
“ The trevally footage was extraordinary , ” he says , tip forward in his chair , the enthusiasm palpable . “ These are big Pisces and when you think of what that involves , you ’re swimming underwater and you ’ve got to face through the surface , see the bird , and make a calculated judgement of how fast it ’s going and where it ’s go to be by the fourth dimension you [ jump ] out of the H2O to arrest it . It ’s quite remarkable demeanor . ”
But he does n’t stop there . “ There ’s more , ” Attenborough gushes . “ You ’ll see a grand Pisces that actually lays its eggs out of water , and actually like to live out of water system . ” He ’s now on a roll . “ And more than anything , you find that the sea is much more of a complex fellowship than one would imagine with all kinds of communication . ” Barely catch his breath , he continues , “ you ’ll see cuttlefish that tell lies to bigger cuttlefish . Octopuses and coral grouper working together . ”
“ You really learn that fish are somebody . ”
But along with all these moments that have never been seen before , comes a serious admonition about what we are misplace before we even get the chance to see it as we continue to pan the oceans .
It ’s not grueling to get word the anger behind Attenborough ’s words , anger which is also directed towards the current and former US presidents . He becomes particularly animated when discussing Donald Trump ’s on-going architectural plan to withdraw the US from the 2015 Paris clime agreement , but admits he was evenly foiled for many geezerhood by a comprehend lack of action mechanism from Barack Obama . That changed two old age ago in France .
“ I was at the clime negotiation in Paris 18 months ago , Obama had backed it , and I arrive out suppose that for the first time ever in story , human beings from around the globe have agree to do something to change their riding habit , and you thought we were getting somewhere , ” Attenborough tell . When it comes to the United States ’ stance now asthe only land on the planet not signed up , he remains ever hopeful .
“ Perhaps this is me just clutching at straws but 30 year ago I felt up we were articulation cry in the wilderness seek to sway people that they have a duty to the satellite , ” Attenborough recount us . “ But in recent old age I feel there ’s been a tidal change of opinion , particularly in young people being witting of their responsibility to the natural world . And that ’s very consolatory . ”
Yet even this comes with a caveat : “ The trouble is , the problem is now large than it was 30 years ago because we have n’t done anything about it for so long . ”
Watching it , it ’s heavy to suppose our sea without a embarrassment of uncanny and marvellous animal at every depth . Let ’s hope that enough can be done to ensure that in the future , we still see this zoological garden of life in our oceans , not just on film .
For those golden enough to presently be watching in the UK , Blue Planet IIcontinues at 8 necropsy on Sunday on BBC One , while those in the US will be able-bodied to grab it on BBC America at a late date .
