Planet Earth II filmmakers save lost baby turtles

The BBC has flouted Sir David Attenborough's own rule never to interfere in nature, after it told worried fans of Planet Earth II that a film crew had intervened to rescue stranded baby turtles.

Viewers of the BBC nature documentary series had been left concerned for the welfare of the newly-hatched turtles, after learning that their natural instincts had been altered by man-made lights, according to the Daily Mail.

While they are built to find their own way safely to the sea after hatching, the programme showed how the brights lights of buildings along the beachfront were causing turtles to turn around and crawl in the wrong direction.

Four in every five hawksbill babies, according to Sir David, who narrates the show, failed to make it through their first night after becoming disoriented, falling down drains and being crushed by cars.

As the programme was broadcast, the BBC took the extraordinary step of confirming their crews had taken action to stop and help.

"Every turtle that was seen or filmed by the Planet Earth II crew was collected and put back into the sea," a spokesman for the show told fans on Twitter.

Doug Allan, a cameraman behind some of the most famous wildlife scenes in television history, has said: "For me, at least, my job is to look and not interfere. If I feel my presence is tilting the balance of the predator or the prey, then I'm doing something wrong."

A BBC source said that in this instance, the problem was man-made and it was therefore appropriate for man to step in to assist.

Read the full story on the NZ Herald.