Last week, Sir David – the legendary BBC presenter – took viewers to the South Pole for the first episode of his new series. Antarctica is Earth’s southernmost continent, home to some 1,000 scientists who live in the blistering conditions that reach -90C at times, as they attempt to understand more about the history of Earth and climate change. However, the 93-year-old was less than impressed with the state of affairs created as a knock-on effect from humans, especially on penguins.
He said: “Nowhere in Antarctica is survival easy and Gentoo penguins travel up to 50 miles every day to find food and they’re now returning to their chicks.
“They are the fastest penguins in the sea and can swim at 22mph, but other animals can swim faster.
“With four orcas chasing it, the penguin stood little chance.
“Most Gentoo penguins do make it back to the colony and today has been a good hunt for krill.”
He explained how climate change is making it harder for penguins to make it across the Southern Ocean.
He added: “These chicks will soon lose these remaining down feathers and be ready to leave the colony to collect food themselves.
“But doing so is becoming harder because of climate change.
“Glaciers in the region are now calving faster than they have done since records began and this brash ice now fills the bays.
“It’s autumn, the chicks have lost their down feathers and they’re hungry.”
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“The penguins can neither walk, nor swim, they have no way of telling where the seal will strike.
“These are easy pickings.”
Sir David previously revealed why he is still making documentaries at his age.
He said: “We are now universal, our influence is everywhere.
“We have it in our hands to save the world, and we have made a tragic, desperate mess of it so far.”
“Nations are coming together and recognising we all live on the same planet and we are dependent on it for every mouthful of food we eat and every breath of air we take.
“And making programmes like this, I’ve been doing it for a long time, and I’m sure a hell of a lot of young people are saying, ‘For God’s sake, why doesn’t he move over? Give another person a chance’, but, anyway, there I am.”
The second episode of Seven Worlds, One Planet was aired on BBC One on Sunday, November 3, at 6.15pm.
Viewers can now catch up with each instalment in Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) on BBC iPlayer.
