The highly-anticipated BBC Earth documentary special, Attenborough and the Jurassic Sea Monster (1 x 60′), follows the world’s most well-traveled broadcaster and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, as he investigates the discovery of a lifetime: the skull of a giant sea monster. Joining Attenborough on the dig are two of the UK’s most intrepid fossil hunters, who excavate the skull from its resting place on the cliff face of Dorset in southern England. Attenborough’s been an avid fossil collector since he was a young boy, but this is the first time he has come across a find quite like this one. The skull belongs to a Pliosaur, an enormous prehistoric marine reptile who ruled the seas while dinosaurs reigned on land 150 million years ago. The news of the remarkable fossil found in this documentary garnered press attention across CNN, CBS, NPR, and more. Attenborough and the Jurassic Sea Monster premieres Wednesday, February 14th at 9 p.m. ET/PT on BBC Earth in Canada. BBC Earth is also available on Prime Video in Canada with Attenborough and the Jurassic Sea Monster airing simultaneously from February 14th at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Attenborough said: “Pliosaurs were the biggest and most formidable hunters in the Jurassic seas, the marine equivalent, you might say of T. Rex. The skull of this one is, by itself, over two metres long and armed with massive fangs. Frustratingly, skulls, which can tell us most about an animal, are only too easily smashed before fossilization but this one is virtually undamaged and promises to reveal all kinds of new details about these terrifying hunters that preyed on Lyme Regis’ better known Ichthyosaurs.”
To help unravel the skull’s mysteries, an international team of scientists and palaeontologists search for clues about how this fearsome apex predator not only looked but how it behaved, and the strategies it used to hunt its prey. The documentary features cutting-edge visual effects sequences that bring the sea monster to life, showcasing its astonishing size – thought to be an incredible 12 metres long – and its phenomenal strength. A momentous new discovery, scientists now believe this could be an entirely new species of Pliosaur.
Attenborough and the Jurassic Sea Monster combines ground-breaking science with fascinating natural history and gripping storytelling, featuring state-of-the-art CGI to explore the tale of the most formidable predator of the Jurassic world.
Attenborough and the Jurassic Sea Monster is made by BBC Studios Natural History Unit and co-produced by PBS and The WNET Group. It was commissioned by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. The Executive Producer is Mike Gunton, Series Editor is Tom Jarvis, Producer Director is Victoria Bobin, and Production Manager is Arpana Paterson. The Commissioning Editor is Tom Coveney. The executive in charge for PBS is Bill Gardner. For PBS Nature, the Executive Producer is Fred Kaufman, Series Producer is Bill Murphy and Series Editor is Janet Hess.
