Blue Planet III Retains Grainy Water to Defy AI Fakes

200,000 crabs. That is the number of creatures lining up in formation to feed in a single sequence from the new BBC nature series Blue Planet III. The footage is part of a production that intentionally preserves visual imperfections to distinguish real nature from artificial intelligence generated images. The series arrives almost ten years after Blue Planet II and 25 years after the original broadcast.

Executive producer Elizabeth White explained that the rise of AI fakery pushed the team toward a more organic look. She stated that AI makes them want to be even more authentic. The animals filmed in the deep ocean are probably more remarkable than AI could imagine, and the footage is completely real. In previous seasons, producers often removed sequences with plankton in the water or rejected shots due to poor water conditions. Now those details remain in the final cut.

Jack Bootle, the BBC's head of specialist factual commissioning, provided a specific assurance to journalists at a press screening. He declared that no generative AI was used in the series. Not a single frame is artificial. It is all real photography. Bootle noted that while viewers might feel they have seen it all before in a golden age of natural history making, this series is bursting with novel behavior.

The new program features several firsts in marine observation. Dolphins use sea sponges to block holes in coral and trap fish. This behavior was recorded using underwater CCTV developed by series producer and director Yoland Bosiger. Other scenes show a grouper communicating with another species of fish and sea urchins using shells as sun hats. A penguin sequence echoes a famous moment from Planet Earth II.

Filming took four years across five oceans. Series producer Lara Bickerton said the BBC Studios unit continually innovated to capture these moments. They built a mini-dome camera to follow an octopus and created a deep-sea selfie stick. Camera operators wore leg-mounted scooters to capture immersive diving footage. Lasers were used to film deep-sea animals. The technology includes what is described as the world's first underwater CCTV camera, nicknamed the stonefish cam.

The series addresses threats to the ocean alongside its resilience. One episode shows how warmer seas caused by the climate crisis are killing the sea anemones where clownfish live. The fish try to repair their homes in response. The plastics theme from the previous series continues with a story on pollutants and forever chemicals, White added.

David Attenborough, who is 100, narrates the series. Bosiger said Attenborough was very much involved in the production and made changes to scripts. White noted that he has not lost his curiosity and is still excited when shown new footage. When asked if the BBC's £500m cost-cutting drive could affect the unit's reputation, White said she could not comment. She noted the series saved money by using more local crews on location than earlier productions. Blue Planet III begins on Sunday 1 November on BBC1 and iPlayer.