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Blue Planet 2 left viewers heartbroken after showing the extent to which plastic affects the ocean

'There would rarely be a dive where I wouldn't find some form of plastic'

Monday 20 November 2017 12:01 GMT

A scene from David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II (BBC)

Blue Planet II has been consistently wonderful, leaving viewers amazed with footage of never-before-seen creatures of the deep, transforming fish, and rubber ducks.

The David Attenborough series has also been occasionally heartbreaking. The third episode — titled 'Big Blue' — featured one moment that left people in tears.

"This mother has been carrying her newborn around,” said Attenborough, narrating over a family of pilot whales, “but it's dead. She's reluctant to let it go. It’s been dead for many days.”

Attenborough explained how humans dump around eight million tonnes of plastic in the ocean every year. As a result, the water levels had likely become so toxic the mother’s own milk had been contaminated

"Pilot whales have big brains, and they can certainly experience emotions,” the narrator continued. “Judging the adults, the loss of the infant has affected the entire family.”

Following the scenes, some viewers took to Twitter to express their dismay at humanity, calling on others to do something about our poisoned oceans.

Blue Planet has issued an article explaining what can be done to help preserve the sea, the first piece of advice — and quickest for those who live by the sea — being to simply pick up litter at the beach. They even call on those who do take part to Instagram and Tweet #2MinuteBeachClean.

Another tip is eating sustainably caught fish — which ensures wildlife and habitats aren’t affected by fishing. The Marine Conservation Society has a handy guide for finding out whether what you’re eating is sustainable.

For those watching Blue Planet II, you’ll be happy to know every piece of plastic the crew came across was removed from the ocean and recycled.

Blue Planet II – in pictures

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1/10Blue Planet II – in pictures

Blue Planet II – in pictures

Broadclub cuttlefish

"A broadclub cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) in Indonesia. Its skin contains millions of pigment cells with which it can create ever-changing colours and patterns to apparently mesmerise their prey."

BBC

Blue Planet II – in pictures

Coral spawning on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

"Once a year, responding to cues from the cycle of the moon and the temperature of the water, corals simultaneously release their eggs and sperm into the ocean. Tiny coral larvae drift in the ocean currents, some for days, some for weeks, before sinking back down to the ocean floor and settling to become new corals."

BBC

Blue Planet II – in pictures

An aggregation of marbled grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion), French Polynesia

"Thousands of groupers gather here in one of the few pristine spawning aggregations for this species remaining in the world. By taking up the position closest to a female, the male stands the best chance of fertilising her eggs."

BBC

Blue Planet II – in pictures

Saddleback clownfish (Amphiprion polymnus)

"A male saddleback clownfish uses all the strength it can muster to push a coconut shell to its anemone in Borneo. Unlike their reef relatives, saddleback clownfish live around anemones that are found in the sand, far away from the solid structure of the coral reef. Male saddleback clownfish must use their ingenuity to find a hard substrate upon which the females can lay their eggs."

BBC

Blue Planet II – in pictures

Peters' monocle breams (Scolopsis affinis)

"A group of Peters' monocle breams blow water-jets onto a hiding bobbit worm (Eunice aphroditois) to expose its ferocious jaws. In so doing, they alert other fish to the worm's location, ruining the predator’s chance of a surprise attack. This new behaviour was published for the first time by Jose Lachat and Daniel Haag-Wackernagel in 2016."

BBC

Blue Planet II – in pictures

Green turtles (Chelonia mydas)

Green turtles in Sipadan, Borneo, jostling for their place at a cleaning station. Here, turtles are serviced by blennies and surgeonfish who rid them of algal growth, parasites and dead skin. In return, these fish receive a nutritious meal.

BBC

Blue Planet II – in pictures

Bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum)

"Bumphead parrotfish feeding on coral and algae in Borneo. These parrotfish use their large forehead to ram corals, thereby breaking them into pieces that are more easily ingested. Each fish ingests over 5 tons of structural reef carbonates per year and after they digest the edible portions from the rock, they excrete it as sand, helping to create small islands and the sandy beaches."

BBC

Blue Planet II – in pictures

Coral garden

"A fish's-eye view of a coral garden on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. New underwater probe lenses, developed for Blue Planet II, allow the viewer to immerse themselves into the coral reef city like never before."

BBC

Blue Planet II – in pictures

A coral grouper (Plectropomus leopardus)

"A coral grouper on the Great Barrier Reef in Northern Australia. Groupers use a gesture dubbed the ‘headstand signal’ to reach across the vertebrate-invertebrate divide and encourage another species to help it hunt. Gestures such as this are thought to only occur in the largest-brained species. The discovery of this behaviour in groupers indicates that some fish are able to think flexibly to achieve their goals."

BBC

Blue Planet II – in pictures

Bigeye trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus)

"A school of Bigeye trevally gather at the outer edge of the reef wall in Sipadan, Borneo. These trevally are a schooling species, widespread in the tropics and usually found in large- slow moving schools during the day. They eat a variety of smaller fish, crustaceans and marine invertebrates."

BBC

"There would rarely be a dive where I wouldn't find some form of plastic from a thread of plastic fishing line, sweet wrappers or plastic bottles," assistant producer Sarah Conner told BBC Newsbeat.

"When in the open ocean on the boat, if we noticed rubbish while in transit we would do our best to stop and pick it up, just as anyone who cares for the ocean would hopefully do."

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