But we will have our work cut out for us. Ocean goes beyond that which much of the public have seen of the ocean space ever before. A gut-churning sequence documenting the unbiased destruction caused to the seabed by bottom-trawling hammers that home in a cinematic experience unlike anything Sir David and his long-time collaborators at Silverback Studios have brought to the screen – big or small – before.
The new footage shows how the chain that the trawlers drag behind them scours the seafloor, forcing everything in its path into the net behind it. Those deploying the practice of bottom-trawling are often only after a single species of fish. More than three-quarters of what they catch may be discarded.
“It’s hard to imagine a more wasteful way to catch fish,” Sir David says.
Not only is it a practice most wasteful and destructive, it is one completely at odds with the needs of our species to survive the worst impacts of climate change. It’s a process that releases vast amounts of carbon dioxide which contributes to the warming of the planet and its ocean. It’s also one of the many symptoms of an approach to the ocean that has almost made the film’s narrator lose hope for the future of life on the planet. That is, were it not for what he describes as “the most remarkable discovery of all”. That the ocean can recover faster than we had ever imagined.
In Ocean the world is presented with a decision to make. And a view of the either path we have right now ahead of us. Told in a way so visceral, it’s almost confounding to think of a future in which we continue on the current path of destruction – so hopeful is the alternative.
For Sir David, the story of the world’s whales has been a source of huge optimism. It’s estimated that 2.9 million whales were killed by the whaling industry in the 20th Century. It has been called by scientists the largest cull of any animal in history, pushing almost all whale species to the edge of extinction.
“I remember thinking that was it,” recalls Sir David of the moment in history when just one per cent of blue whales were left in existence. “There was no coming back, we had lost the great whales. “
But in 1986 lawmakers bowed to public pressure and banned commercial whaling worldwide. The whale population has been on the recovery since then.
It’s this Sir David and the team behind Ocean now hope to emulate. Without isolating communities, the film aims to shine a glaring light on where things have gone wrong. But it, crucially, offers a glimpse at what we can do to correct it.
“This could be the moment of change,” he says.
The film’s release is timed ahead of World Ocean Day, June’s United Nations Ocean Conference 2025 in Nice, and midway through the UN’s Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. As world leaders decide the fate of our ocean, Ocean with Sir David Attenborough will show why ocean recovery is vital for stabilising our climate and securing a healthier future for us all, and how marine protection – if immediately implemented – can help turn the tide.
“Nearly every country on Earth has just agreed, on paper, to achieve this bare minimum and protect a third of the ocean. Together, we now face the challenge of making it happen.”
Ocean with Sir David Attenborough will be released as a Global Cinema Event from May 8. It will be made available on National Geographic, Disney Plus, and Hulu later this year.
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