Sir David Attenborough has revealed he nearly drowned whilst testing scuba-diving equipment for his 1957 dive on the Great Barrier Reef.
The 99-year-old broadcasting veteran shared the harrowing experience during a discussion with Prince William about his latest documentary, Ocean.
Demonstrating with an original version of Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s open-circuit scuba helmet, Attenborough described the terrifying moment when the equipment malfunctioned.
“When I put mine on for the first time, I suddenly felt water coming around [my chin and up over my mouth],” he recalled.
The water continued rising dangerously. “By the time [the water rose to my nose], I thought, ‘I’m sure this is not right’,” Attenborough told the Prince during their conversation at London’s Royal Festival Hall in early May.
The situation became life-threatening as Attenborough found himself trapped in the faulty helmet. .
“If you got this thing screwed on top of you, you can’t breathe. You can’t even make yourself heard, you know: ‘Get it off me!'” he explained to Prince William, who interjected with concern during the retelling.
The incident took a darkly comic turn when a sceptical director of operations refused to believe the equipment was defective.
“So he put it on and I’m happy to say he went under the water and came up even quicker than I did,” Attenborough recounted, prompting Prince William to exclaim “Blimey”.
The director’s hasty retreat confirmed what Attenborough had desperately tried to communicate – there was indeed a fault with the diving helmet that could have proved fatal.
The near-death revelation emerged during a four-minute video filmed to promote Attenborough’s new National Geographic documentary special, Ocean, which becomes available for streaming on World Oceans Day.
The pioneering naturalist was discussing his lifetime of ocean exploration with Prince William when he shared the 1950s incident.
During their conversation, Attenborough expressed horror at humanity’s impact on marine environments.
“The awful thing is that it’s hidden from you and from me and most people,” he told the prince.
He was particularly appalled by footage captured for the new documentary.
“What we have done to the deep ocean floor is just unspeakably awful,” Attenborough said. “If you did anything remotely like it on land, everybody would be up in arms.”
The veteran broadcaster expressed hope that the documentary would inspire change.
“If this film does anything – if it just shifts public awareness – it’ll be very, very important, and I only hope that people who see it will recognise that something must be done before we destroy this great treasure,” he said.
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Prince William struck an optimistic note about future ocean exploration. “I wonder whether this should be a moment for optimistic excitement for the next generation,” he suggested to Attenborough.
“They can become bigger explorers and find more data. The next 50 years will be incredible.”
Attenborough agreed enthusiastically, noting that films like Ocean can “expose something new” to families watching from their homes.
The pair’s discussion highlighted their shared commitment to ocean preservation, with William set to deliver a speech at a Monaco environmental summit calling for “urgency and optimism while we still have the chance”.
