Saving the ocean is easier than we realised, says David Attenborough

Broadcaster believes his new film Ocean 'is the most important story he's ever told', says director

In August 2022, David Attenborough was sitting in the kitchen with his daughter Susan and long-time friend and collaborator Keith Scholey. They were sketching out the idea for a new film – one that would reveal the ocean as humanity had never seen it before. It was an ambitious vision for any filmmaker, let alone one in his mid-90s.

‘We worked out that, if we were to do it, it would release in 2025,” Scholey tells The National. “Then, suddenly, Susan just looked at David and said, a little nervously: ‘2025. You’ll be 99. That seems like quite a big number.’

Attenborough, of course, was undeterred. “David just said, ‘Oh, don’t worry about that. Come on. Let’s go,” Scholey recalls.

This is David Attenborough as Scholey has always known him – brilliant, clear-minded, and indefatigable. “David is a one off,” Scholey says.

Their latest collaboration, Ocean with David Attenborough, releases today on Disney+ in the Middle East to commemorate World Oceans Day, and airs on National Geographic throughout the week. While this isn’t the first time the legendary British broadcaster and biologist has ventured into the brine, it may be his most surprising.

And it’s a positive surprise – one that Attenborough himself was struck by during production. Over the past 40 years, the deeper he’s immersed himself in the natural world, the more he’s evolved into a vocal environmental advocate. And simultaneously, the closer he’s looked at the damage caused by human activity, the more dire the picture has seemed.

A clown anemonefish on a coral reef in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Photo: Silverback Films

But in Ocean with David Attenborough, he and his collaborators discovered something unexpected: The ocean can be saved, and doing so may be easier than we ever imagined.

“David was completely surprised, as I was, about the capacity for the ocean to recover,” says co-director Toby Nowlan. “There’s an overriding feeling of hope in this story, and it isn’t false hope. This is a real, tangible piece of hope that we can shout about from the rooftops.”

What’s the secret to healing the ocean’s poor health? Stepping away and letting the ocean heal itself.

Nowlan says: “I didn’t really understand this until I started working on the film, despite working with wildlife all my life.”

Throughout the film, Attenborough and the crew explore once-devastated areas of the ocean that were marked for conservation, banning all fishing and other human activity. What they found is that, in each protected area, not only did the ecosystem make a roaring comeback – but the benefits spread far the area’s borders.

Attenborough says in the film: “Wherever we have given the ocean time and space, it has recovered faster and on a greater scale than we dared to imagine possible. And it has the power to go even further.”

Keith Scholey and David Attenborough on location while filming Ocean with David Attenborough. Photo: Silverback Films

So what exactly is the plan? “It's quite clear. It’s to protect a third of the ocean, which will fill up with life again and create a stable climate, a breathable atmosphere, and an ocean that's more abundant and fuller of life than we could ever imagine. And that's for the benefit of everyone, not just conservationists, but fisheries as well,” says Nowlan.

The campaign surrounding the initiative is called 30x30 – a push to global governments to make sure that at least 30 per cent of the ocean is protected by 2030. Enric Sala, founder of National Geographic Pristine Seas and a producer on Ocean with David Attenborough, was one of the leading voices of the campaign.

Sala says. “When we started recruiting countries to support the target, the UAE was one of the first five countries that committed its support. It ended up being approved in 2022 at the Cop15 UN convention on biodiversity.”

Nowlan adds: “Now, it’s just about getting the word out and making sure it happens.”

That, in part, is why they were so glad to have the gravitas of Attenborough, particularly as their message became "a truly hopeful one with a clear option on the table for humanity,” says Nowlan.

“I don’t think there’s anyone who knows the natural world better than David. His name means trust. If he says something, then it’s real. And for him to say that this is the most important story he’s ever told and the greatest message he’s ever brought to us, it really means something.”

Crewmembers Alex Warham and Jacca Deeble launching a drone to film footage of an ocean trawler. Photo: Silverback Films

Scholey first met Attenborough when he was 21, doing PhD research at Bristol University. He was helping him with his second-ever big series – The Living Planet – and even then, he felt like a larger-than-life figure. “I was so intimidated by him. He was a giant in the television world.”

The more he got to know Attenborough, however, the more he saw that his reputation only scratched the surface.

“He’s a renaissance person,” says Scholey. “He’s interested in everything. It’s not just zoology – I don’t think there’s anyone who knows more about classical music. I suppose that’s why time is so important to him. He never wastes a minute – and he sets very high standards.”

Scholey, 67, finds that as much as he’s changed since they met, Attenborough hasn’t changed at all. In fact, as they worked on Ocean, he often felt like he’s grown older than Attenborough has – as Attenborough’s mental state and attitude haven’t deteriorated one iota.

“Throughout my whole career with David, we’ve always worked the same way. David gives us a framework, and we go off and get researchers, find details, then come back together again. And David is collaborative throughout.

“David looks at everything with a laser, because he knows he’s going to be the guy who ends up saying it. He takes responsibility for everything he says. And the more he’s become a global figure, the more that responsibility has got increasingly onerous on him. He’s very wise.”

Toby Nowlan and David Attenborough filming the film's opening and closing scenes. Photo: Conor McDonnell

Ocean with David Attenborough, the result of three years of production, took its directors to all seven continents – including 500 hours filming underwater, 300 days at sea, and even sequences filmed from space. But when they think back to its production, it’s the moments with Attenborough they are most grateful for – particularly, as Attenborough acknowledges for the film, he’s nearing the end of his life’s journey.

Nowlan says: “I remember being on the beach with him, filming the opening and closing lines to the film. David said: ‘after living 100 years on Earth, I realise that nowhere is more important than the sea. And if we save the sea, we save our world.’

“David said that with such intensity and intimacy that every time I hear those words now in the film, it reaches right inside of me and just grabs my heart. It’s the most powerful words I think I’ve ever heard the man say in any film. It’s extraordinary.”

Ocean with David Attenborough is now streaming on Disney+ in the Middle East