Attenborough launches series with call to end plastic menace
IMMEDIATE ACTION is needed to tackle plastic pollution in the world’s seas, Sir David Attenborough has said ahead of a major new TV wildlife series.
Speaking as details of the BBC’s Blue Planet II were unveiled, Sir David said “every one of us” has a responsibility for the oceans and singled out rising sea temperatures and plastics as the most urgent issues.
The veteran broadcaster warned that filming had revealed “tragedies” caused by plastics in the ocean, such as an albatross feeding its young with plastic rubbish instead of squid. Sir David, who presents Blue
Planet II, said he did not know what could be done about rising sea temperatures in the next decade.
“But we could actually do something about plastic right now. And I just wish we would,” he said.
“There are so many sequences that every single one of us have been involved in, even in the most peripheral way, where we have seen tragedies happen because of the plastic in the ocean.” Blue Planet II returns to the world’s oceans after 2001’s award-winning The Blue Planet.
It captures new footage and scientific discoveries of species’ behaviour in habitats including deep coral reefs, high seas, underwater forests and coasts, using new filming techniques.
The series also looks at the impact of humans on life in the ocean, from warming seas and plastics to pollutants in the milk dolphins feed their calves, as well as telling stories of species recovering from disasters.
Blue Planet II begins at 8pm on Sunday October 29 on BBC One.