If you’re a fan of the sea and want to find out more about the ocean, check out our favourite marine life documentaries.
For Sea Fans
BBC’s Blue Planet 2 showcases rare and unusual creatures from throughout the world’s ocean environments. Discover these creatures’ unique behaviours and find out the problems they face in today’s world.
For Coral Fans
Chasing Coral is a race-against-time, underwater campaign to document the disappearance of coral reefs around the world. Coral reefs are vanishing at an alarming rate, and it’s up to the Chasing Coral team to find out why, and bring it to the public’s attention.
For Whale Fans
Sea of Shadows puts the spotlight on the race to save the Vaquita, the world’s smallest toothed whale, from extinction against an illegal multi-million-dollar business run by the Mexican cartels and Chinese mafia. Will this tiny whale make it?
For Dolphin Fans
The Cove is a hard-hitting, marine conservation documentary that looks at how dolphins end up in captivity. It follows a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, as they infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan. What they find is a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.
For Orca Fans
Long Gone Wild focuses on the plight of captive orcas, picking up where the acclaimed ocean documentary Blackfish left off. While the Asian marine mammal entertainment market is booming, there is a glimmer of hope for captive orcas in the form of a The Whale Sanctuary Project.
For Whale Shark Fans
Galapagos: Realm of Giant Sharks is where you will find a growing population of pregnant whale sharks as well as schools of hammerheads. Take a look beneath the waves in this awe-inspiring documentary as a group of scientists get up-close with the world’s largest shark.
For Shark Fans
Sharkwater: Extinction is the follow up to Rob Stewart’s hard-hitting shark documentary Sharkwater. Follow Stewart as he exposes the massive illegal shark fin industry and the political corruption behind it.
For Penguin Fans
March of the Penguins 2 – The Next Step is the follow up to the original documentary March of the Penguins. This time around the focus is a father and son emperor penguins as they face and overcome unimaginable challenges of life in this remote and dangerous land.
For Turtle Fans
Why Just One? tells the story of Sea Shepherd’s fight to save sea turtles. It’s a marine conservation documentary that looks at the widely accepted statistic that just one in one thousand sea turtle hatchlings survive to maturity.
For Fish Fans
Artifishal is a documentary film about people, rivers, and the fight for the future of wild fish and the environment that supports them.
For Small Critter Fans
Mucky Secrets: The Marine Creatures of the Lembeh Strait is an ocean documentary celebrating the smaller creatures in the ocean. It focuses in on the Lembeh Strait, a narrow stretch of sea in Indonesia home to some of the world’s best muck diving. Discover colourful nudibranchs, fantastic frogfish, elegant pipefish, and hundreds of other awesome creatures lurking in the sand.
For Arctic Fans
Black Ice is the true story of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise. The crew onboard set sail to protest the first ever oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Seized at gunpoint by Russian special forces, the ‘Arctic 30’ were thrust into headlines all over the world, facing up to 15 years in prison.
For Deep Sea Fans
In James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge, you join Cameron on his journey to the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench.
For Ocean Conservation Fans
A Plastic Ocean examines the terrifying impact plastic is having on our ocean and the marine animals that live there. It also proposes positive solutions that can be implemented immediately.
Discover more ocean conservation documentaries
You can find more documentaries about the ocean on Sea Fans. Let us know what your favourite is in the comments below, and if there are any we should add.
Or why not discover more ways to learn about the ocean. After all, learning is the first step to getting involved in marine conservation.
