Attenborough tells William he hopes Ocean film will move people to action
William also chatted with his natural history hero about their shared optimism for discoveries of new life in the seas, despite the threats they face.
Sir David has been described by the future King as the 'inspiration' for his six-part wildlife rangers series, and has attended a private screening of Ocean that shows the seas at a crossroads due to over-fishing, pollution and habitat destruction.
The baton to help protect the world's oceans appears to be passing from the veteran broadcaster to William and others, with the prince expected to call for action to save them when he gives a speech at an economic forum attended by world leaders on Sunday.
Sir David said during their conversation: 'If this film does anything, if it just shifts public awareness, it will be very, very important, and I can only hope that people who see it will recognise that something must be done before we destroy this great treasure.'
The broadcaster made William laugh, during their chat filmed at the Royal Festival Hall in early May, when he tried on one of his early diving helmets and told the story of it filling up with water due to a fault.
Asked by the prince for his assessment of the state of the world's oceans, the broadcaster replied: 'The awful thing is that it's hidden from you and from me and from most people.
'The thing which I am appalled by, when I first saw the shots that were taken for this film, are what we have done to the deep ocean floor is just unspeakably awful.
'I mean, if you could do anything remotely like it on land, everybody will be up in arms.'
The damage caused to the seabed by fishing boats using a common technique called bottom trawling – dragging a net that forces sea life into the trap – is shown in Ocean.
With a shared passion for protecting the natural world, the prince and the naturalist have supported each other in their missions to tackle some of the biggest environmental challenges the planet faces.
William has attended screenings of Sir David's nature documentaries privately while the broadcaster has been a champion of the prince's environmental Earthshot Prize since its inception.
The future King asked the broadcaster, who recently turned 99, what gave him hope and was told the film took them into people's living rooms and it could 'expose something new' and, when quizzed if there was new life to discover in the oceans, was told 'beyond question'.
Sir David agreed with William when he concluded by saying 'it's a really optimistic, excitement sort of moment for the next generation, to be able to be bigger explorers and find more data and more research down there'.
The film, narrated by Sir David, offers a message of hope that, if protected from the damage of intensive and destructive fishing, the oceans can recover, and it backs the call to protect 30% of the world's marine areas by 2030, known as 30×30.
William is due to speak at the Blue Economy and Finance Forum at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, with world leaders like France's President Emmanuel Macron also addressing the event.
The prince is expected to issue a rallying call to delegates: 'Halfway through this decisive decade, I call on all of you to think big in your actions.
'Let us act together with urgency and optimism while we still have the chance.'
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