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Ocean

Earth's Last Wilderness - THE LANDMARK NEW BOOK BY DAVID ATTENBOROUGH

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About this listen

 ** THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER **

'Gripping... the wildlife is so fantastical that the images on the page feel like works of the imagination.' Evening Standard

'THIS IS THE STORY OF OUR OCEAN AND WE MUST WRITE ITS NEXT CHAPTER TOGETHER. FOR IF WE SAVE THE SEA, WE SAVE OUR WORLD. AFTER A LIFETIME OF FILMING OUR PLANET, I'M SURE THAT NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT.'

From the icy seas of our poles to remote coral islands, David Attenborough has filmed in every ocean habitat on planet earth. Now, with long-term collaborator Colin Butfield, he shares the story of our last great wilderness - the one which shapes the land we live on, regulates our climate and creates the air we breathe.

Dive into eight unique saltwater habitats, swim through kelp forests, mangroves and coral reefs and down almost 11,000 feet to the deepest corners of the most unexplored ecosystem on our planet.

Experience a journey of wonder and discovery, populated by green turtles and blue whales; clownfish and bioluminescent jellyfish; the vampire squid and the 'head-less chicken monster' - a strange form of sea cucumber that lives at the very bottom of the ocean.

With the warmth, intelligence and awe that characterises all of David Attenborough's landmark series, Ocean shows us a world which is both desperately fragile yet astonishingly resilient, with an extraordinary capacity to repair itself. It's not too late to restore our most vital habitat. If we treat it with respect, our marine world will be even richer and more spectacular than we can imagine.

A book almost a century in the making, but one that has never been more urgently needed.©2025 David Attenborough Productions Limited & Colin Butfield Best of 2025 Ecosystems & Habitats Editors Select Environment Environmentalists & Naturalists Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Professionals & Academics Science Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Habitat

Editorial Review

An urgent call to action to protect our oceans
If you’re anything like me, “the next audiobook from Sir David Attenborough” is probably enough for you to add this to your library. Ocean will also be accompanied by a nature documentary and come out in time for Attenborough’s 99th birthday, which makes this audiobook truly special. As the world’s leading broadcaster and conservationist, Sir David has seen and filmed in just about every major ocean habitat there is. But rather than simply reporting on the creatures that make our oceans so special, Attenborough and his longtime collaborator Colin Butfield dive into the urgent need to protect and restore our oceans as a means to safeguard the planet from climate disaster. Though it might sound scary, it’s also a message of perseverance and hope, because the science shows that our oceans are so much more resilient than we ever could have imagined. —Michael C., Audible Editor

Critic reviews

Determinedly positive . . . There seem to be real grounds for hope. You can just hear [Attenborough's] voice. The lilt and rasp of it . . . Passionate. The great naturalist's latest book, written with Colin Butfield, explores the Earth's last wilderness, from octopus gardens to booming fur seal numbers.
[Sir David Attenborough] is a one-off . . . a genius.
Educating and inspiring the next generation on the importance of the oceans is a key message. It reveals that the ocean is the part of our world that can, and in some cases has, recovered the fastest, and in our lifetimes we could see a fully restored marine world, even richer and more spectacular than we could possibly hope, if we act now to protect it.
Gripping... the wildlife is so fantastical that the images on the page feel like works of the imagination.
The great naturalist's latest book explores Earth's last wilderness, from octopus gardens to booming fur seal numbers. [It] is determinedly positive. There seem to be real grounds for hope. Given a chance, the authors insist, sea life is astonishingly resilient.
All stars
Most relevant
Beautifully raw and heartbreaking. This book shows how slowly, we are improving life within our oceans and how we can still bring the oceans back to how they once were.
THE OCEAN NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED!

Ocean

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like watching one of his amazing animal documentaries in your head. and Collin is also a very good narrator

moving and lovely

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These guys open your eyes to just how possible it is for us humans to fix the ocean's. Informing while being entertaining, they have the balance. For someone who has been on the sea for over 50 years I can see what they talk about. It is as you would expect a David Attenborough production to be, brilliant. I will be listening to this many times.

Agree

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This is a wonderfully written and read book. It gives many insights into how oceans work as well as what we have lost. More importantly in these times where many people feel no hope it gives great examples of what can and has been achieved to restore our oceans - it might not be as hard to as one might think, I can think of no better starting point than this book and now I’m going to listen to it again!

A wonderful and uplifting book

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I liked the depth of information that was tied into the relationship between the inhabitants and living things of the oceans, and the geological structures of the earth.

David Attenborough's devotion to the creatures and biome of the planet.

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