‘Planet Earth II’ Viewers Left Distraught Over Fate Of Baby Turtles In Series Finale… But There’s A Happy Ending

Phew.

Nature programmes can be a difficult watch, and Sunday night’s episode of ‘Planet Earth II’ proved to be just that, leaving many viewers distraught over the plight of hatchling turtles.

The series finale of the Sir David Attenborough-fronted show featured the baby turtles heading towards the city from the beach instead of the sea, mistaking the lights of Barbados for the moon.

BBc

This led to many of them meeting a grisly end by being run over by cars, getting trapped in storm drains or being caught by crabs, which was a hard watch for many…

Why is no one helping the baby turtles? #PlanetEarth pic.twitter.com/gFy4AQJ5TD

— Tamara Auer (@mrs_ouchi) December 11, 2016

Quitting job, selling house and going to go spend my nights turning turtles around so they head in the right direction! #PlanetEarth

— Angie Eustice (@AngieEustice) December 11, 2016

Everyone's tweeting about some random lad called Matt and I'm just lying here still worrying about those baby turtles. #PlanetEarth

— Ben Webbo (@BenWebbo23) December 11, 2016

#PlanetEarth The Turtles mistaking city light for the moon absolutely broke my heart, we need to be more aware of the life around us.

— Carly Rowena (@CarlyRowena) December 11, 2016

But if you were one of the many viewers left upset by the scenes, you’ll be pleased to know there was a happy ending for many of the turtles.

“Every turtle that was seen or filmed by the #PlanetEarth2 crew was collected and put back into the sea,” BBC Earth confirmed on Twitter.

Every turtle that was seen or filmed by the #PlanetEarth2 crew was collected and put back into the sea.

— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) December 11, 2016

The BBC also shared a video on Facebook about the Barbados Sea Turtle Project, who continue to rescue and fight for the turtles all year round.

‘Planet Earth II’ has been a huge ratings hit for the BBC with more than 12 million of us tuning in to watch last night’s finale.

It was also recently revealed that more young people have watched this series than ‘The X Factor’, which goes out at the same time on ITV.

It took 22 cameramen, 140 production staff, 117 expeditions in 40 countries and 2,089 shooting days to film the six-part series.

Close

What's Hot