“It was a cemetery. And we were responsible.”
Sir David Attenborough has described in detail the most horrifying moment of his 60-year career.
The legendary broadcaster was appearing as a guest on Call of the Wild, a brand new podcast from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).
The 94-year-old, who recently received the coronavirus vaccine, was damning in his criticism of humanity’s environmental damage.
He said: “There are oil slicks and bits of plastic floating in the remotest part of the oceans. We have destroyed nature.”
Sir David Attenborough recently referred to anti-vaxxers as an “ignorant minority”. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)Speaking to host Cel Spellman about the most heartbreaking moment of his career to-date, Attenborough said:
“I suppose the most obvious one that I remember particularly vividly, of course, is the first time when I went to a coral reef.
“I thought I was going to dive in, in eastern Australia on the Barrier Reef, and start seeing the most marvellous, beautiful, extraordinary, wonderful wonderland. It was a cemetery. It was just white, that coral. And we were responsible.”
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, however. Attenborough also shared some advice for how you can implement change on an individual level.
He said: “Well, one of the simplest things that you should do if you get the chance, when you get the chance, is just naturally to stop. Sit down. Don’t move. Keep quiet.
“Doing that in a woodland, if you haven’t done it, is extraordinary. And then, speaking for myself, then you’ll realise how ignorant you are, how you can’t actually recognise what that birdcall is, which you ought to be able to.”
Attenborough has recently been vocal in his criticism of anti-vaxxers, labelling them an “ignorant minority”.
The 94-year-old has previously spoken out about the efficacy of vaccines.
He said: “I’m sufficient of a scientist still, I hope, to realise this is the thing to do.
“The virus has made us feel we are more vulnerable, and vulnerable to what is happening to the world”.
Listen to Sir David Attenborough on Call of the Wild with Cel Spellman and WWF on Apple, Spotify and all podcast providers
