Editor’s Note: CNN’s Call to Earth series is dedicated to addressing the environmental challenges our planet faces, alongside potential solutions. Collaborating with Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative, CNN aims to raise awareness and provide education on key sustainability issues to encourage positive action.
The latest film by veteran broadcaster David Attenborough, “Ocean with David Attenborough,” captures the beauty of the sea and emphasizes its crucial importance. Attenborough, celebrating his 99th birthday, reflects on the ocean’s transformations over his lifetime and highlights the urgent need to restore its health.
The documentary showcases the wonders of coral reefs, kelp forests, and other marine ecosystems while underscoring the ocean’s role in mitigating climate change as a major carbon sink. However, it also sheds light on the devastating impacts of marine heatwaves, coral bleaching, and destructive fishing practices that harm both marine life and coastal communities.
Despite these challenges, Attenborough remains optimistic, pointing to success stories where marine ecosystems have recovered when given the chance. He highlights areas like Kiribati, Palau, and West Papua, where coral reefs have shown signs of resilience, and marine reserves in the Mediterranean have flourished after fishing bans. The film showcases Papahānaumokuākea, a no-fishing zone in Hawaii, as a model for sustainable marine conservation efforts.
The recovery of the ocean is evident in the Southern Line Islands, where marine life has rebounded following strict restrictions. Enric Sala, the founder of National Geographic’s Pristine Seas program and a scientific advisor to the film, has witnessed this remarkable recovery firsthand while diving in the region. Despite experiencing a significant coral die-off due to marine heat waves a decade ago, the corals fully recovered within four years thanks to the presence of fish that helped clean the reef.
Sala, echoing David Attenborough’s optimism, believes that we can save the ocean by taking immediate action against the three main threats: global warming, plastic pollution, and overfishing. He emphasizes that overfishing is the easiest threat to address, stating that halting fishing in a particular area today would result in a quick recovery of the marine ecosystem.
The film emphasizes the importance of establishing clear no-take zones in priority areas to protect marine life. Attenborough highlights that less than 3% of the ocean is currently fully protected and stresses the need to increase this percentage. The film’s release coincides with Attenborough’s 99th birthday and is aimed at inspiring global action to protect the ocean.
By showcasing the detrimental effects of industrial fishing through powerful imagery, the film aims to raise awareness among decision-makers and urge them to take decisive action. Released ahead of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, the film seeks to influence governments to speed up the implementation of measures to protect oceans. Attenborough calls for urgency in safeguarding at least a third of the world’s oceans, stressing that this moment presents an opportunity for positive change on a global scale.
