The Prince of Wales is marking World Oceans Day this year with an interview with Sir David Attenborough ahead of the release of his new documentary, Ocean with David Attenborough.
Kensington Palace has released a new film of Prince William and the 99-year-old broadcaster and environmental activist, which sees the pair discussing the current state of the oceans.
David’s new documentary is set to release on Sunday June 8, which is World Oceans Day. The film has been created to shine a light on the damage humankind has wreaked on the ocean, as well as the opportunities we have to heal it.
In their conversation, William and David spoke of the legendary biologist’s work in ocean exploration, as well as reasons to remain optimistic for ocean recovery.
At the start of the short film, David recalled the first time he ever put on a diving helmet – and nearly drowned as it filled with water.
‘I suddenly felt water coming up,’ he said, gesturing around his chin to show where the water level rose to inside the helmet when he first went underwater.
‘I thought, ‘This can’t be right’. And by the time it got to about here,’ he said, gesturing to his nose, ‘I thought, ‘I’m sure this is not right’.
‘And of course if you’ve got this thing screwed on top of you, you can’t breathe. You can’t even make yourself heard, you know. Get it off me!’
The Prince of Wales and Sir David Attenborough have released a short film ahead of the premiere of Ocean with David Attenborough on World Oceans Day
The documentary maker said his director at the time, Alastair Fothergill, then took the helmet from him and ignored a warning that it was faulty.
‘I said, “It’s a fault,” and he said, “No, Lord, come on”. And he put it on. I’m happy to say that he went under the water and he came up even quicker than I did because there was actually a fault on the thing.’
In a 2016 interview in The Telegraph, Alastair also remembered the moment he resurfaced after trying to show David that there wasn’t a problem with the helmet.
‘I can still remember his gentle smile of satisfaction when he saw how quickly the helmet nearly drowned me as well,’ the director said.
Later in their conversation, William, who founded the Earthshot Prize in 2020, asked Sir David about how he felt when he got the chance to scuba dive for the first time and talk about it on camera.
‘Once [Jacques] Cousteau invented the Aqua-Lung and the face mask, that was the moment when suddenly you moved into a new world, you were flying alongside fish, which was an extraordinary experience and the fish, of course, have no reaction to you really because they’ve never seen anything like you before.’
The 99-year-old broadcaster and environmental activist has said the forthcoming documentary is the most important of his career
Sir David recalled the first time he wore a dive helmet and how he almost drowned because it was faulty and filled with water
He and Prince William also discussed the best and worst things Sir David has seen over the years of filming in the ocean
Sir David also praised the underwater camera crew he has worked with over the years, who he described as ‘fantastic’ and ‘happier underwater than they are on land’.
William also asked Sir David what state he would say the oceans are in, based on what he has seen over the years.
‘The awful thing is that it’s hidden from you and from me, and most people,’ he replied.
Describing a scene in the documentary which shows deep sea trawling – a way of fishing that uses heavy nets and chains dragged along the ocean floor that is extremely destructive – Sir David said he had been ‘appalled’ at what humanity has done.
‘It is just unspeakably awful,’ he said. ‘If you did anything remotely like it on land, everybody would be up in arms.
‘If this film does anything, if it just shifts the public awareness, it’ll be very, very important. I can only hope people who see it will recognise that something must be done before we destroy this great treasure.’
Searching for reasons to be optimistic, William asked: ‘What gives you hope? What inspires you? Have you seen any stories where you feel that there is hope that we can turn this around?’
Sir David said that what has been ‘heartening’ to see is the ability to broadcast what’s happening to the environment directly into ‘people’s front rooms’.
‘Whole families sitting at home in comfort can actually suddenly see this coming up. Films like this can expose something new.’
The prince also asked the broadcaster for reasons to be optimistic about the recovery of the ocean and its future
Sir David hopes his documentary will ‘shift the public awareness’ and that people ‘will recognise that something must be done before we destroy this great treasure’
A pod of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins swimming across the coral reefs of the Red Sea, Egypt
Sir David also said it was ‘heartening’ to be able to broadcast his documentary straight into people’s homes
The prince’s final question to Sir David probed into the deep, mysterious unknown, as he asked: ‘Do you think there are things down there we’ve never seen?’
‘Beyond question,’ the broadcaster answered. ‘We’re in the situation now when in fact it’s possible to go into places where nothing like you has ever been there before. It’s a huge privilege and excitement.’
Earlier this month – as he celebrated his 99th birthday – Sir David said that his forthcoming documentary is one of the most important of his career.
He said in a statement: ‘After almost 100 years on the planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea.’
Prince William also released a new wildlife documentary that was released in May, and said that Sir David was a ‘big inspiration’ to him when he was growing up.
His six-part series, titled Guardians, hopes to ‘remind people that there are still wonderful parts of the world and there is still hope, and there’s still amazing work to be done’.
The prince’s passion for protecting the environment and encouraging new initiatives that focus on conservation and recovery is clear through his Earthshot Prize, which awards five winners each year for their contributions towards environmentalism.
