I missed the social media kerfuffle over the death of a young turtle the other day – but then I missed seeing the BBC programme as well as I don't watch wildlife programmes (they peaked for me with Hans and Lotte Hass). You can find a BBC news report here.
This is how the BBC news story begins:
"If you were watching Blue Planet Live on Sunday night you may have been left a bit deflated as the programme came to an end. In the final few moments, six green sea turtle hatchlings were released on to the beach, before one of them was snapped up by a hungry seagull. "What happened and the way it played out was unfortunate," Blue Planet Live's executive producer Roger Webb says. "It's not for us to interfere. With a predator with such quick wits and ability - they're always going to have their eyes on the prize."
Shock and horror was reported:
But the team had interfered by 'rescuing' the turtles in the first place. As the BBC noted:
"Scientist Janine Ferguson released the hatchlings on Heron Island in Australia, along with presenter Liz Bonnin. The Blue Planet Live team said the green sea turtles had been rescued from their nest chamber and would have died if the scientists working on the island hadn't unearthed them for release. Liz Bonnin told viewers: "They're left to their own devices here, to the elements, to the predators that await them and also to the ever increasing man-made threats."
Viewers were left "fuming" because the presenter didn't intervene. One wrote: "Watching Blue Planet Live showed us how they help the little turtles that got stuck in the nest and then let a seagull come and pinch one of them and didn't even attempt to stop it!!"
Indeed. The BBC should remember that for many, "any turtle's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Life on Earth” – as John Donne so very nearly said.
Respond