Ocean with David Attenborough

 

by Nancy Corson Carter

When I joined my local “Climate Crowd” to watch Ocean with David Attenborough, I was mesmerized by the film’s beauty, and the sense of urgency to do something. Trusting our theme for this edition of Earth News: Our Voices Matter, I hope that you will see this amazing documentary and find ways to take action, sharing your insights with your communities. As Christians, we are surely called to care for God’s Creation with justice for all.

The film’s 2025 release was scheduled to coincide with the World Ocean Day on June 8th, as well as June’s United Nations Ocean Conference 2025 in Nice, France, and also midway through the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). As world leaders decide the future of our seas, Ocean with David Attenborough explains why ocean recovery is crucial for stabilizing our climate and securing a healthier future for everyone.

The film’s official trailer clearly states its significance: “Stunning immersive cinematography showcases the wonder of life under the seas and exposes the realities and challenges facing our ocean as never-before-seen—from destructive fishing techniques to mass coral reef bleaching. Yet, the film remains optimistic, with Attenborough highlighting inspirational stories from around the world to convey his message: “The ocean can recover to a glory beyond anything anyone alive has ever seen.”

The 99-year-old Attenborough, after 70 years of documenting natural history, reminds us that Earth’s oceans, covering about 70% of the planet, have been both revered and feared by humans since our first arrival. But only now are we discovering what they mean for our world. “My lifetime,” he tells us, “has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery. Over the last one hundred years, scientists and explorers have revealed remarkable new species, epic migrations, and dazzlingly complex ecosystems beyond anything I could have imagined as a young man.”

In his lifetime, he saw scuba gear change everything—a new world of wonder became visible and the open ocean too, the “last great wilderness,” “our final frontier,” opened to new discovery. Some creatures, like tuna and sharks, were found to make planet-wide migrations, while submarine mountains were discovered up to three miles high!

We observe giant kelp—the tallest plants in the ocean—being “gardened” by sea urchins. We see a world in delicate balance filled with visually stunning color and movement, with “jungles” off our coasts that rival any on land. He notes the shallow, wide coastal reefs that affect all eight billion of us—the phytoplankton carried there and deposited from the deep sea produce half of the air we breathe.

Yet, alongside this glory are modern ocean bottom trawlers that scoop and smash all this life (“All for a few scallops,” someone mourned.), leaving bleak scenes of everything else scraped flat and destroyed.

Such a stark contrast is caused by the relentless destruction of these “vast factories” that can instantly ruin fragile 200-year-old sponge gardens or deploy 50-mile-long bait lines to attract millions of sharks, leaving few survivors! With much of their prey lost, seabird colonies in every ocean are in their final stages of collapse.

Attenborough tells us that “less than 3% of the ocean is fully protected, yet scientists say we must protect at least one-third to survive.” Three billion people rely on fish for food, yet around 400,000 industrial ships continually strip the ocean. Is this legal? Unfortunately, this overfishing on an industrial scale is subsidized by governments. “Vast factories now travel the seas, day and night, nowhere out of bounds, even in the open ocean.”

Unfortunately, the trawlers have now even reached Antarctica, where they hunt krill, the main food source for penguins, whales, and many other animals. The huge ships fish everywhere to make fortunes from products like pet food and health supplements.

However, despite lamenting that “we have drained the life from our ocean,” Sir David announces a remarkable discovery that can lift our spirits— the creation of no-take zones, reserves protected from fishing. In these zones, he sees “a bit of magic” at work.

The “magic” was first created in the Channel Islands just off California, in the U.S. Our no-take zone there has demonstrated how life is restored after only five years. Not only did the no-fishing rule allow animals to recover within the safety zone, but there are also significant spillovers into surrounding unprotected waters! This success is being proven along the Mediterranean and off the French Coast, as well as in other locations, notably in a special Hawaiian marine area.

Papahānaumokuākea (pronounced Pa-pa-hah-now-mo-koo-ah-keh-ah) is a Hawaiian ocean sanctuary that is sacred to Native Hawaiians and recognized worldwide for its significant cultural and ecological importance. Its name means "the place where the gods dwell," symbolizing the union of the ancestral parents, Pāpā and Wākea, who created the Hawaiian Archipelago. The designation of this Marine National Monument protects one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world, preserving its pristine waters, colorful coral reefs, and sacred cultural sites. 

These are promising beginnings. We can find hope in Attenborough’s statement that “even the blue whale has begun to return within a decade of banning its being hunted—a baby blue whale born today would live 100 years IF we continue to protect her!” 

He continues: “This could be the moment of change. Nearly every country on Earth has just agreed, on paper, to achieve this bare minimum of protecting a third of the ocean. Together we now face the challenge of making it happen.”

Those of us who recognize that God’s incredible gift of Creation must not be wasted are called to accept this challenge. We know that the ocean provides the life force of our planet Earth. As Attenborough reminds us, “If we save the sea, we save our world!”

Ocean with David Attenborough is on Disney+ and Hulu; also, from National Geographic Society: If you are an educator for a school, university, library, or museum, or organizing a non-profit event, you can request access to the film through their website. This allows you to show the film for educational and charitable purposes without charging viewers.

Nancy Corson Carter, professor emerita of humanities at Eckerd College, has published THREE poetry books, Dragon Poems The Sourdough Dream Kit, and A Green Bough: Poems for Renewal (most recent) and three poetry chapbooks. Some of her poems, drawings, and photos appear in her nonfiction book, Martha, Mary, and Jesus: Weaving Action and Contemplation in Daily Life, and in her memoir, The Never-Quite-Ending War: a WWII GI Daughter's Stories.