The blue planet seas of life bbc2/8/2024 ![]() Even though the octopus finds itself at the wrong end of a shark, it manages to escape by-and major spoiler alert- slipping an arm into the shark’s gill slits to prevent it from breathing. As it goes about its business, ambushing wayward crabs and hiding in crevices, it becomes suddenly menaced by a pyjama shark-a small and slender predator that yanks it out of its hidey-hole. The resulting episodes, each narrated by David Attenborough in his trademark velvety tones, are hour-long distillations of wonder, featuring sequences that would be breathtaking had earlier shots left you with any breath to take away.Ĭonsider the octopus from the “Green Seas” episode. They literally stared into the abyss-and then repeatedly entered it. They hung off speedboats to film dolphins rocketing behind them. They stuck their cameras into coral crevices. The Blue Planet II crew traveled to 39 countries to capture over 6,000 hours of footage. It is almost transcendentally good-the product of a team that, after six decades of experience, is now at the height of its powers. ![]() I offer these tidbits, these credentials, to properly frame the following claim:īlue Planet II is the greatest nature series that the BBC has ever produced. I celebrated David Attenborough’s recent 90th birthday by binge-watching all 79 episodes of his Life Collection for the umpteenth time, and ranking them all. ![]() In the intervening decades, I have devoured almost every show that the NHU has cared to make. Through these valiant efforts, theirs is now one of the densest leatherback nesting beaches in the world.I remember exactly when and where I first came across their work-a VHS copy of Life on Earth, bought from the gift shop of London’s Natural History Museum at the age of 8. Their numbers have dropped dramatically, by up to 90 per cent in some parts of the world, but here, volunteers are risking their lives to get turtle poachers to put down their weapons and instead protect the beach where these magnificent creatures nest. In the Caribbean, a community is reversing the fortune of giant leatherback turtles. He is using the latest technology to unlock one of the ocean's biggest mysteries - where these elusive giants may give birth. In the Galapagos, one scientist has devoted much of his life to saving the largest fish in the sea - the whale shark. Hundreds of giant humpback whales and one of the greatest gatherings of orcas on the planet feast on the herring - an extraordinary story of recovery.Īround the world, individuals are also making a huge difference to the future of the ocean. Today, thanks to careful regulation, they have returned, creating one of the greatest spectacles in the ocean. Every year, billions of herring overwinter in the icy seas off Norway, but just 50 years ago they were almost wiped out by overfishing. Yet, despite these devastating impacts, there is hope. We travel to Antarctica on a unique expedition to discover how melting polar ice sheets could one day impact the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world. Warmer than normal seas caused the biggest coral bleaching event in human history, killing about 90 per cent of the branching corals at Lizard Island.īut the warming ocean could have an even more devastating effect. While filming the stunning corals on the Great Barrier Reef's remote Lizard Island, the film crew witnessed a catastrophe. Many creatures are struggling to survive in today's oceans, and some changes in the ocean will require a global effort. Scientists have even discovered that increasing noise levels may stop baby clownfish finding their way home. ![]() In this final episode, we uncover the impact that our modern lives are having on our best-loved characters from across the series, including devoted albatross parents unwittingly feeding their chicks discarded plastic and mother dolphins potentially exposing their newborn calves to pollutants through their contaminated milk. The oceans are changing faster and in more ways than at any point in human history and now, for the first time, we understand why. But we have also witnessed the profound effects of human activity. While making Blue Planet II, we have explored parts of the ocean that nobody has been to before, encountered extraordinary animals and discovered new insights into how life thrives beneath the waves. ![]()
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