Our Planet - Sir David Attenborough

Rabs

A proper national treasure...   This new series on Netflix..  AWESOME

Keiko

After watching episode one I was going to write that this is a bit tame in comparison with recent attenborough programs. After watching episode two, no its brutal alright. The walrus scene is heartbreaking.

beed84

Keiko said:

After watching episode one I was going to write that this is a bit tame in comparison with recent attenborough programs. After watching episode two, no its brutal alright. The walrus scene is heartbreaking.

Yeah, that particular scene got me too. A genuine hand over mouth moment.

stan

According to Attenborough’s whispery voiceover, trembling with emotion, the cause of the walruses’ tragic deaths was the decline of their sea ice hunting grounds caused — of course! — by global warming.

For further details, he advises at the end, viewers should contact the show’s partners the WWF.

Attenborough claims in his voiceover that the walruses are driven to climb the rocks “out of desperation not choice.”

He continues:

Their natural home is out on the sea ice, but the ice has retreated away to the north and this is the closest place to their feeding grounds.

Every square inch is occupied, climbing over the tightly packed bodies is the only way across the crowd — those beneath can get crushed to death.

In a desperate bid to avoid the crush, they try to head towards the cliffs.

A walrus’s eyesight out of the water is poor. But they can sense the others down below. As they get hungry, they need to return to the sea.

In their desperation to do so, hundreds fall from heights they should never have scaled.

Very moving, but also completely untrue. The more likely explanation is that the walruses were driven to their deaths by polar bears — which herded them over the cliff and then feasted on the bodies afterwards.

This incident, which was recorded in 2017 in village of Ryrkaypiy, in eastern Siberia, was well-documented at the time.

According to polar bear expert Susan Crockford:

In 2017, a group of about 20 polar bears, waiting for ice to form so that they could leave the village of Ryrkaypiy, stalked a herd of 5,000 or so walruses. The particular conformation of the region at Kozhevnikova Cape shows how frightened walrus could easily move from the beach  to the top of the cliff along a gentle slope, and then be driven over the edge by fear or misstep. The bears were then able to feed off the many carcasses after the survivors took to the water.

According to Andrew Montford in the Spectator, the Our Planet footage was almost certainly shot in this region at this time:

Analysis of the rock shapes in the film and in a photo taken by the producer/director both match archive photos of Ryrkaypiy. The photo was taken on 19 September 2017, during the events described by the Siberian Times.

But whereas the Siberian Times and Gizmodo website, which also reported on the 2017 incident, were both quite clear that the walruses were driven over the cliffs by polar bears, Netflix makes no mention of their presence. Similarly, there is no mention of the fact that walrus haulouts are entirely normal.

This is far from the only misrepresentation of the facts in this tendentious, manipulative series. As Paul Homewood has also noticed, the series is little more than a propaganda exercise for its WWF partners and is riddled with dubious claims and factual errors.

Not for the first time, Sir David Attenborough has been caught green-handed, squandering his prestige and his “national treasure” status by misleading viewers, mispresenting the facts in order to scare his audience with alarmist environmentalist propaganda.

TimmyO

stan said:

 alarmist environmentalist propaganda.

acres of sea ice were just out of shot? 

Keiko

stan said:

According to Attenborough’s whispery voiceover, trembling with emotion, the cause of the walruses’ tragic deaths was the decline of their sea ice hunting grounds caused — of course! — by global warming.

For further details, he advises at the end, viewers should contact the show’s partners the WWF.

Attenborough claims in his voiceover that the walruses are driven to climb the rocks “out of desperation not choice.”

He continues:

Their natural home is out on the sea ice, but the ice has retreated away to the north and this is the closest place to their feeding grounds.

Every square inch is occupied, climbing over the tightly packed bodies is the only way across the crowd — those beneath can get crushed to death.

In a desperate bid to avoid the crush, they try to head towards the cliffs.

A walrus’s eyesight out of the water is poor. But they can sense the others down below. As they get hungry, they need to return to the sea.

In their desperation to do so, hundreds fall from heights they should never have scaled.

Very moving, but also completely untrue. The more likely explanation is that the walruses were driven to their deaths by polar bears — which herded them over the cliff and then feasted on the bodies afterwards.

This incident, which was recorded in 2017 in village of Ryrkaypiy, in eastern Siberia, was well-documented at the time.

According to polar bear expert Susan Crockford:

In 2017, a group of about 20 polar bears, waiting for ice to form so that they could leave the village of Ryrkaypiy, stalked a herd of 5,000 or so walruses. The particular conformation of the region at Kozhevnikova Cape shows how frightened walrus could easily move from the beach  to the top of the cliff along a gentle slope, and then be driven over the edge by fear or misstep. The bears were then able to feed off the many carcasses after the survivors took to the water.

According to Andrew Montford in the Spectator, the Our Planet footage was almost certainly shot in this region at this time:

Analysis of the rock shapes in the film and in a photo taken by the producer/director both match archive photos of Ryrkaypiy. The photo was taken on 19 September 2017, during the events described by the Siberian Times.

But whereas the Siberian Times and Gizmodo website, which also reported on the 2017 incident, were both quite clear that the walruses were driven over the cliffs by polar bears, Netflix makes no mention of their presence. Similarly, there is no mention of the fact that walrus haulouts are entirely normal.

This is far from the only misrepresentation of the facts in this tendentious, manipulative series. As Paul Homewood has also noticed, the series is little more than a propaganda exercise for its WWF partners and is riddled with dubious claims and factual errors.

Not for the first time, Sir David Attenborough has been caught green-handed, squandering his prestige and his “national treasure” status by misleading viewers, mispresenting the facts in order to scare his audience with alarmist environmentalist propaganda.

You miss the point. The polar bears didn't drive thousands of walrus' into one location, that's the global warming part. Lack of broken ice where they would normally be sat in their own space. The bears were just preying on them being there. 

fwiw the additional footage shown on the WWF website clearly states it was filmed in 2017. They are not trying to hide that.

I dont understand what point you are trying to make really, unless you are one of those people who think global warming is a hoax. emotional propaganda with exaggerated facts here and there maybe, but if it makes people wake up and start to care then I'm all for it. Should they just fob off the scientists, ignore its happening and only show nice things? keep the public ignorant of what scientists are reporting?

 

fretmeister

https://www.flickr.com/gp/146313356@N04/Z7k4D9



Yup.

ThePrettyDamned

Edit: for the second time today, nope. Not worth it. 

WiresDreamDisasters

ThePrettyDamned said:

Edit: for the second time today, nope. Not worth it. 

I've been doing that a lot the past day or two as well. In fact when I first came back I deliberately avoided OT, only posting in a handful of topics pertinent to me (lol) and I was much happier being back. Since getting involved in some of the political discussion, I am increasingly wondering if it was the right thing to do. Time will tell.

monquixote

WiresDreamDisasters said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

Edit: for the second time today, nope. Not worth it. 

I've been doing that a lot the past day or two as well. In fact when I first came back I deliberately avoided OT, only posting in a handful of topics pertinent to me (lol) and I was much happier being back. Since getting involved in some of the political discussion, I am increasingly wondering if it was the right thing to do. Time will tell.

I'd say keep it on topic.

That's where the good stuff is.

ICBM

The real worry is that Attenborough isn’t making *enough* noise about it, rather than too much... since there are still some people who don’t seem to understand.

shrinkwrap

Hey a real life climate change denier - I thought they were only in zoos.

Emp_Fab

Yep..  there’s so few of them left in the wild since their natural habitat is being destroyed.  I’ve read the Americans have set up several sanctuary states.

RandallFlagg

The decline of the natural world through human activity is an epic tragedy and needs attention but I would prefer to see the stunning dramatic filming without the political overtone messaging. I'm in two minds whether to watch this or not.

I would prefer to see the messaging it in a section at the end with an interview wth Attenborough, or as a standalone episode.

ThePrettyDamned

RandallFlagg said:

The decline of the natural world through human activity is an epic tragedy and needs attention but I would prefer to see the stunning dramatic filming without the political overtone messaging. I'm in two minds whether to watch this or not.

I would prefer to see the messaging it in a section at the end with an interview wth Attenborough, or as a standalone episode.

I don't think Attenborough cares whether people want to see it or not - he feels, very strongly, they have to. Besides, seeing the destruction of the glacier was dramatic filming - and simultaneously can't exist without a message. 

Globally, we don't do enough - the ocean plastics thing people are so het up about is great in terms of generating interest, but it's a small problem compared to overfishing and climate change. Ocean plastics communicates well as it is so visual but there are some conservationists who feel it's proving a distraction from larger issues. 

ThePrettyDamned

WiresDreamDisasters said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

Edit: for the second time today, nope. Not worth it. 

I've been doing that a lot the past day or two as well. In fact when I first came back I deliberately avoided OT, only posting in a handful of topics pertinent to me (lol) and I was much happier being back. Since getting involved in some of the political discussion, I am increasingly wondering if it was the right thing to do. Time will tell.

I can come across as a right bellend online because a) I'm not great at debating and b) when it comes to the environment I'm quite an opinionated little shit. Not terrible, given where I work. 

The thing is, science backs me up - it's not political, the science doesn't give a damn about how you vote, it'll continue on its path - and yet it's being dragged into politics where it doesn't need to. 

fretmeister

RandallFlagg said:

The decline of the natural world through human activity is an epic tragedy and needs attention but I would prefer to see the stunning dramatic filming without the political overtone messaging. I'm in two minds whether to watch this or not.

I would prefer to see the messaging it in a section at the end with an interview wth Attenborough, or as a standalone episode.

It’s not political.

its just true. Just like a warning to not go to an Ebola ravaged country isn’t political. Or don’t let your kids stick fingers in a socket.

science doesn’t give a fuck about how you like to vote. 2+2=4 whether you are hard right or hard left. 

Grumpyrocker

stan said:

Not for the first time, Sir David Attenborough has been caught green-handed, squandering his prestige and his “national treasure” status by misleading viewers, mispresenting the facts in order to scare his audience with alarmist environmentalist propaganda.

Oh no, what if we leave our kids with clean air and a pristine planet for no reason!

beed84

RandallFlagg said:

The decline of the natural world through human activity is an epic tragedy and needs attention but I would prefer to see the stunning dramatic filming without the political overtone messaging. I'm in two minds whether to watch this or not.

I would prefer to see the messaging it in a section at the end with an interview wth Attenborough, or as a standalone episode.

Then you need to watch Koyanniqatsi, which means “life out of balance”. It’s a captivating documentary that shows how mankind has lost its way with nature, highlighting the ways in which we’ve ruined the planet as a result. The score by Philip Glass is mesmerising too. Trailer below:

https://youtu.be/PirH8PADDgQ

RandallFlagg

fretmeister said:

RandallFlagg said:

The decline of the natural world through human activity is an epic tragedy and needs attention but I would prefer to see the stunning dramatic filming without the political overtone messaging. I'm in two minds whether to watch this or not.

I would prefer to see the messaging it in a section at the end with an interview wth Attenborough, or as a standalone episode.

It’s not political.

its just true. Just like a warning to not go to an Ebola ravaged country isn’t political. Or don’t let your kids stick fingers in a socket.

science doesn’t give a fuck about how you like to vote. 2+2=4 whether you are hard right or hard left. 

But if scientists want to change behaviour they need politics.

RandallFlagg

beed84 said:

RandallFlagg said:

The decline of the natural world through human activity is an epic tragedy and needs attention but I would prefer to see the stunning dramatic filming without the political overtone messaging. I'm in two minds whether to watch this or not.

I would prefer to see the messaging it in a section at the end with an interview wth Attenborough, or as a standalone episode.

Then you need to watch Koyanniqatsi, which means “life out of balance”. It’s a captivating documentary that shows how mankind has lost its way with nature, highlighting the ways in which we’ve ruined the planet as a result. The score by Philip Glass is mesmerising too. Trailer below:

https://youtu.be/PirH8PADDgQ

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