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Viewers Are Being Broken By The Walrus Scene From Netflix's Our Planet

Viewers Are Being Broken By The Walrus Scene From Netflix's Our Planet

The director of the episode said it was 'the hardest things I’ve ever had to witness or film in my career'.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Every time a nature documentary gets released, viewers are amazed and shocked by our natural world. Whether it be an animal stalking their prey or newborns trying to evade predators, it always leaves us bewildered.

But there's a scene from Netflix's latest documentary, Our Planet, that's absolutely tugging at the heartstrings of people.

Viewers get to see tons of walruses in Russia lounging around, going about their lives. After centuries of evolution, their bodies are designed to manoeuvre around the Arctic ice to get where they need to be.

Sadly though, due to climate change, that ice is in short supply.

Instead of sitting on sea ice, they haul themselves onto dry land to rest and raise their young, resulting them in being in precarious positions.

That's what we see in Our Planet where one walrus trying to get back into the sea plummets off an 80-metre cliff, hitting a few rock ledges before seemingly belly flopping into the sea.

People watching the show have been quick to vent their heartache at the distressing scene.

Netflix

One person wrote: "I really want to continue watching #ourplanet but that Walrus scene fucking destroyed me."

Another said: "To those who say climate change isn't a legitimate threat I implore you to watch just the second episode of Our Planet and watch a Walrus fall off a cliff it should never have had to scale were it not for its natural hahitat literally melting before them."

A third added: "Literally full on sobbed to the walrus moment. This whole docuseries is so heart breaking. #OurPlanet I wish as humans we can do more."

It was particularly painful for the crew to film the scene as well.

Sophie Lanfear, who produced and directed the episode, has told the New York Times: "The walrus scenes were the hardest things I've ever had to witness or film in my career.

"I really wasn't prepared for the scale of death.

"A small group of maybe six or seven would make it down safely, and we'd all celebrate. But the vast majority do not. They basically walk themselves off the cliff.

"The walruses are used to a soft landing. Their depth perception hasn't evolved to deal with a cliff situation, nor have they evolved to work out how to get back the way they came. So it's just tragic. It's absolutely heartbreaking."

If it does anything, it should spur every viewer to make a difference and help the environment.

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Sir David Attenborough, Netflix, Animals