Can the New Netflix Nature Docuseries Inspire Real Change?
"The world will never be the same once you've seen it from below."
This is one of the taglines for Netflix's new documentary series Our Oceans.
The US-based streaming giant has just announced its newest project, a five-episode series investigating life beneath the waves.
A presidential seal
Notably, the show is narrated by former US President, Barack Obama, who has expressed his passion for ocean conservation many times before.
In 2016, the President attended the Our Ocean Conference and delivered a speech on this subject.
He said: "Our oceans feed us, protect us, regulate our climate, our weather, anchor industries from transportation to tourism to trade of all kind.
"The health of our planet’s oceans determine in large part the health of our own bodies and the health of our economies. And while it is our oceans’ contours that shape our coastlines, it is what we decide and do here that will shape our oceans’ future."
What can we expect to learn from the series?
While Barack Obama is not a scientist or marine biologist, he is a strong advocate for ocean protection — which suggests that this Netflix's series will have a sharp focus on sustainability and conservation.
This theory is backed up by the involvement of James Honeyborne, who is the executive producer of Our Oceans.
His previous credits include BBC documentary Blue Planet II with David Attenborough, which depicted aquatic life in unimaginably vivid ways.
As with many modern Attenborough-adjacent productions, Blue Planet II was framed as a warning for the effects climate change will have on Earth's oceans.
We can expect the same from Our Oceans.
The scientific value of nature documentaries
With Our Oceans, viewers can expect to see things they have never seen before.
Netflix's Sustainability Officer, Dr Emma Stewart, has revealed that 20 scientific papers are already being written about discoveries made during the film crew's lengthy process.
Emma omits the details of these discoveries, though, so viewers will have to wait and see what lies beneath the waters themselves.
What we can be sure of is the level of craft the series will showcase.
Production lasted five years, meaning we will be able to see how life has developed and changed across a huge window of time.
What's more, we can be sure that we will be seeing some incredible footage — imagine the amount of film left on the cutting room floor after half a decade of filming.
The social value of nature documentaries
Through the years, nature documentaries have been valuable tools of change.
Calls to action like An Inconvenient Truth, Cowspiracy and Blackfish have all had spread messages of sustainability amongst huge audiences.
For instance, a 2024 survey conducted by Veggly found that 50.9% of people believe documentaries to be the most effective way to encourage people to consider a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Laura Thomas-Walters is a Research Specialist and Deputy Director of Experimental Research for the Yale Programme on Climate Change Communication.
She looks into the ways that messages of sustainability are expressed through media, giving her a unique insight into the effect that nature documentaries can have on global conservation efforts.
She explains: "Studies have shown that documentaries can increase willingness amongst viewers to make personal lifestyle changes, increase support for conservation organisations and generate positivity towards an issue, making policy change more likely."
So, let's hope Our Oceans can deliver the radical changes required to prevent widespread ecological devastation.
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