SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: FASCINATING FACTS AND INSPIRING QUOTES
This past weekend marked the 94th birthday of a remarkable person and quite possibly the world's most-loved naturalist … Sir David Attenborough.
Born in 1926 – the same year as Queen Elizabeth – he has been broadcasting for over 60 years and has feasibly done more than any other person in history to help us understand and appreciate our amazing planet.
Sir David joined the BBC as a trainee in 1952 and quickly found ways to bring wildlife onto the screen with the hit series, Zoo Quest – proving that wildlife programmes really were popular. He has gone on to present numerous documentaries, often highlighting conservation concerns and environmental issues - most recently climate change and plastic pollution - and inspiring so many of us to change our ways and protect our planet.
When researching this blog, I can across one quote of his…
“If I can make programmes when I'm 95, that would be fine. But I would think I'll have had enough by then.”
Now 94, let’s hope that he’s had a change of heart and there are still many more documentaries to come…
★ Did you know? ★
In 1965, as Controller of BBC Two, Sir David Attenborough oversaw the first ever colour broadcasts in Europe, beating rival German broadcasters by three weeks.
Messages about our world:
“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.”
Image by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash
"We are at a unique stage in our history. Never before have we had such an awareness of what we are doing to the planet, and never before have we had the power to do something about that.”
"Surely we all have a responsibility to care for our Blue Planet. The future of humanity and indeed, all life on earth, now depends on us."
★ Did you know? ★
Sir David has more than ten plants and animals named after him as well as the UK’s polar research ship, RRS Sir David Attenborough.
Messages about endangered animals:
“The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?”
Image by Sergi Ferrete on Unsplash
“It's a moral question about whether we have the right to exterminate species.”
“People are not going to care about animal conservation unless they think that animals are worthwhile.”
“There are some four million different kinds of animals and plants in the world. Four million different solutions to the problems of staying alive.”
★ Did you know? ★
Sir David Attenborough is the only person to have won BAFTAs for programmes in black and white, colour, HD, and 3D!
Messages on climate change:
There is no question that climate change is happening; the only arguable point is what part humans are playing in it.
Image by Ella Ivanescu on Unsplash
“Real success can only come if there’s a change in our societies and inner economics and in our politics.”
“Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale. Our greatest threat in thousands of years. Climate change.”
★ Did you know? ★
In 2015, Sir David Attenborough dived over 300 meters in a submersible to film unseen parts of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The dive broke the record for the deepest ever on the reef.
Messages about plastic:
“Industrial pollution and the discarding of plastic waste must be tackled for the sake of all life in the ocean.”
Image by Dustan Woodhouse on Unsplash
“Right now, eight million tonnes of plastics end up in the oceans every year… the actions of any just one of us may seems to be trivial and to have no effect. But the knowledge that there are thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who are doing the same thing – that really does have an effect.”
★ Did you know? ★
Sir David Attenborough has done more than almost any other person to help us understand and appreciate the wonders of the world around us and be inspired to protect our planet.