National Geographic Joins Forces with David Attenborough for New Documentary on the Health of the World’s Oceans

National Geographic is partnering for the very first time with the world’s preeminent natural historian, Sir David Attenborough, on a feature-length documentary special about the health of the world’s oceans.

(Photo by Conor McDonnell)

What’s Happening:

Presented and authored by the 98-year-old broadcaster, David Attenborough: Ocean (working title) will share with a global audience the story of how we can, and must, restore the glory of Earth’s vast, interconnected waters.
After nearly a hundred years filming every aspect of the natural world, Attenborough delivers his most powerful message yet. In this feature-length special, he draws on his lifetime of knowledge and experience to take us on a journey of wonder through the planet’s most spectacular undersea habitats, revealing that we are currently living in the greatest age of ocean discovery, and showing beyond doubt that it is the most important place on Earth. While Attenborough exposes the biggest problems facing our ocean, his story is one of hope, and that in front of us is an opportunity for marine life to recover on a scale no one alive has ever seen before.
One of the world’s leading underwater cinematographers, Doug Anderson (Blue Planet and Our Planet), will act as director of underwater photography. Cameras will film across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Oceania, capturing the practical and affordable solutions to reversing harmful human activity along coral reefs, mangroves, coastal communities, fish farms, marine sanctuaries and many other habitats in order to return the ocean to its most pristine and vibrant.
Audiences will see the timely film in 2025, midway through the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).
It is clear without doubt that we can only stabilize the climate by restoring the ocean. David Attenborough: Ocean (working title) will amplify the solutions that are already at hand and ready to be immediately implemented to help turn the tide.
David Attenborough: Ocean (working title) will be presented and authored by Sir Attenborough.
The film will debut in theaters in 2025 before premiering on National Geographic and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

What They’re Saying:

David Attenborough: “My lifetime has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery. Over the last hundred years, scientists and explorers have revealed remarkable new species, epic migrations and dazzling, complex ecosystems beyond anything I could have imagined as a young man. In this film, we share those wonderful discoveries, uncover why our ocean is in such poor health, and, perhaps most importantly, show how it can bounce back to life.”
Tom McDonald, National Geographic’s executive vice president of Global Factual and Unscripted Content: “There is no one better to deliver this landmark film than Sir David. I have had the privilege and pleasure of working with him many times over the past decade, and so I am, of course, personally and professionally thrilled that he has agreed to work with National Geographic for the very first time on a subject that is timely and close to his heart.”