Sir David Attenborough ‘will not see how the story ends’ but says children will ‘see how our choices play out’

Sir David Attenborough is synonymous with the natural world and after quitting his BBC management job in 1973 has dedicated his life to providing the world with jaw-dropping documentaries.

In recent years, those hard-hitting shows have increasingly focused on protecting the planet and undoing the damage humans have already done, none more so than his latest offering - Ocean With David Attenborough.

The film’s release coincides with Sir Attenborough’s 99th birthday and includes dramatic footage of the devastation fishing practices such as bottom trawling, wreak on the seabed and its wildlife, as well as highlighting the wonder of natural habitats, from kelp forests to coral reefs, and the need to protect them.

In one sequence, local Liberian fishermen are dwarfed by the industrial trawlers off the coast of west Africa, threatening their livelihoods, as Sir David warns wealthy nations are sending vessels to catch fish in “modern colonialism at sea”.

However, in the documentary set to be released in cinemas ahead of a major UN ocean conference in France in June, Sir David also offers a message of hope that, given the chance, the oceans can recover and provide food, store carbon in seabeds, kelp and seagrass, and allow wildlife to thrive.

And Sir Attenborough points to the reversal of fortunes for the world’s whales after an international whaling ban was secured, and sites where coral recovers after bleaching where fishing is banned, as fish eat off the algae and allow the ecosystem to regrow.

“The ocean can recover faster than we thought possible,” he says in the film. “If we just let nature take its course, the sea will save itself.” And he concludes: “If we save the sea, we save our world.”

Speaking to The Times, Sir Attenborough spoke of his good fortune to have lived for almost an entire century and saying that during that time “we have discovered more about our ocean than in any other span of human history”.

He told the newspaper: “I will not see how that story ends but, after a lifetime of exploring our planet, I remain convinced that the more people enjoy and understand the natural world, the greater our hope of saving both it and ourselves becomes.”

He added that it would be youngsters who will watch the consequences of human actions play out. He said: “Young children playing on a beach today will live through perhaps the most consequential time for the human species in the past 10,000 years. They will grow up to see how this story ends, to see how our choices play out.”