David Attenborough on plastic rubbish: ‘Future of humanity’ at stake

ICONIC broadcaster and naturalist is used to seeing death in nature, but one death in particular left him heartbroken.

SIR David Attenborough has spent his lifetime documenting nature as well as the impact humans have had on it.

But there was one scene the renowned conservationist and broadcaster simply couldn’t handle.

The 91-year-old was left heartbroken during filming for his latest documentary series Blue Planet II after seeing a young albatross lying dead by its mother after choking on a plastic toothpick.

The presenter said the birds usually eat seafood including squid as part of its natural diet and was shocked to see the mother feed its young, something he didn’t expect to see.

Sir David Attenborough reveals his devastation at seeing a bird choke on plastic. Picture: Sky News/Sky Ocean Rescue

“What comes out of the mouth of the adult?,” he said. “Not sand eels and not fish and not squid which is what they mostly eat, but plastic.

“It’s heartbreaking ... heartbreaking.”

The conservationist said its mother obviously mistook the plastic for food and said the product got into out seas and was strangling animals, Sky News reported.

Writing in a Radio Times column, Attenborough highlighted the eight million tonnes of plastic being dumped into the sea every year and called for action to save the future of humanity.

“Surely we have a responsibility to care for the planet on which we live? The future of humanity, and indeed of all life on Earth, now depends on us doing so,” he said.

“Plastic is now found everywhere in the ocean, from its surface to its greatest depths.”