Netflix’s Seaspiracy has (quite literally) made waves around the world, with filmmaker Ali Tabrizi highlighting why overfishing — and our consumption of seafood — is such a huge problem globally. And while the documentary has faced some criticism, it’s undoubtedly opened many people’s eyes to the multiple threats that our oceans are facing.
In honour of World Oceans Day, we’ve listed seven sea-loving documentaries you should watch next, from My Octopus Teacher to Mission Blue.
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
A heartwarming look at man’s relationship with nature, Oscar-winning Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher tells the story of an unlikely friendship between filmmaker Craig Foster and an octopus in a South African kelp forest, which blossomed as he followed her journey over the course of a year.
Blue Planet II (2017)
Sir David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II, a seven-part BBC series, opened people’s eyes to the dangers of single-use plastic back in 2017 — with shocking scenes showing albatross chicks ingesting plastic and a baby whale that was thought to have died from its mother’s milk made toxic due to the amount of plastic in the ocean. The documentary also shows why our oceans need to be saved, from their tropical coral reefs to vast undersea forests.
Chasing Coral (2017)
For an in-depth look at the dangers coral reefs are facing, look no further than Chasing Coral. The film uses time-lapse photography to track how reefs in places such as Hawaii, the Bahamas and Bermuda have changed over time, transforming from the vibrant images we’re so familiar with to white and lifeless. Shockingly, we have lost up to 50 per cent of the world’s coral reefs since the 1980s, with 30 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef dying off in 2016 alone.
The Cove (2009)
Oscar-winning documentary The Cove was one of the first to shine a light on the highly controversial practice of dolphin hunting in Taiji, Japan. At the time, the film claimed that more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises were killed in Japan every year, with activists suggesting that demand for dolphins at aquariums and sea life centres around the world was driving the practice. The film led to widespread outrage, although former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe later defended the tradition of dolphin hunting.
Mission Blue (2014)
Renowned oceanographer and marine biologist Sylvia Earle — who has spent half a century exploring the deep sea — describes the drastic changes she’s noticed underwater in her lifetime as a result of global warming in Netflix’s Mission Blue. Explaining why she’s so determined to do everything she can to save our oceans, she tells viewers: “No ocean, no life. No ocean, no us.”
A Plastic Ocean (2016)
If you want to understand exactly why plastic pollution is such a huge problem, watch A Plastic Ocean, which came to life after producer Jo Ruxton visited the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the North Pacific Ocean, an area three times the size of France that’s estimated to contain 1.8tn pieces of plastic. Although mostly invisible to the eye, the documentary explains how plastic waste breaks down into tiny particles in the ocean, which are ingested by marine life and eventually end up in our food chain.
Seaspiracy (2021)
Know someone who’s given up fish recently? It’s likely because they’ve watched this eye-opening Netflix documentary, which highlights the damaging effect commercial fishing is having on our oceans. In fact, estimates suggest 2.7tn fish are caught globally every year — the equivalent to 5m fish every minute.
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Emily ChanCredit
Lead image: The Cove Year courtesy of Alamy