A tremendous team up! National Geographic have announce that it 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. 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, aiming to debut in 2025 in cinemas and then globally on National Geographic and Disney+.

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. The great man had this to say:

“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.”

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 will amplify the solutions that are already at hand and ready to be immediately implemented to help turn the tide.

The documentary will be presented and authored by Sir Attenborough. Directed by Toby Nowlan, Keith Scholey and Colin Butfield and produced by Nowlan for Silverback. Executive producers include Louise Pedersen and Rachel Job for All3Media International, Tom McDonald and Janet Han Vissering for National Geographic, Jasper Smith and Arksen Ltd for 10% for the Ocean, Minderoo Productions Limited, Enric Sala for National Geographic Society and Pristine Seas, Kristin Rechberger for Dynamic Planet, Rolly van Rappard and Francoise van Rappard for Don Quixote ASBL, and HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco for The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

The film will debut in theaters in 2025 before premiering on National Geographic and streaming on Disney+.