David Attenborough's rallying cry on 99th birthday after saying 'the end is near'

Sir is using his 99th birthday to deliver a powerful message to leaders: You have one last big chance to save our seas.

The film Ocean, released today, features what is expected to be his final scenes shot on location, on the Jurassic Coast cliffside in Dorset. As the cinema film is not a production, Sir David is free from the corporation’s impartiality rules. And the broadcaster uses this freedom to hit out at industrial ships “sent by a few wealthy nations” that he says are “starving coastal communities of the food sources they have relied on for millennia”.

As small Liberian fishing craft are dwarfed by industrial trawlers off the west coast of Africa, Sir David argues: “This is modern colonialism at sea. Some 400,000 industrial vessels now hunt every corner of the ocean. Nowhere is too far or too deep.”

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He also explains how ocean “jungles” and “meadows” absorb far more carbon than rainforest on land and, if they are not destroyed by boats, they can help Earth avoid climate disaster.

It is hoped the feature-length film will play a decisive role in saving biodiversity and protecting the planet from climate change.

In it, Sir David also blasts giant fishing nets and trawler boats, saying: “The idea of bulldozing through a pristine rainforest causes outrage. Yet we do the equivalent underwater thousands of times every day.”

And he warns the human campaign of violence against sea creatures even rivals the power of huge natural disasters.

He explains: “Sharks and turtles survived the extinction of the dinosaurs but may not outlive this. The change is simple. We once fished a few places near shore to feed our communities. Now, we fish everywhere all the time, and I have lived through this change.”

Film footage shows how the chain the trawlers drag behind them scours the seabed, forcing the creatures it disturbs into the net behind. They are often seeking a single species, so more than three-quarters of what they catch may be discarded. “It’s hard to imagine a more wasteful way to catch fish,” says Sir David.

The movie was timed to come out shortly before the UN Ocean Conference, being held in France next month, which will ratify ambitious new goals for ocean protection.

In a more positive moment of the film, Sir David says it is not too late to make a difference. Given the chance, the oceans can recover and provide food, store carbon in seabeds, kelp and seagrass, and allow wildlife to thrive.

The film includes shots of kelp forests off California where fishing has been banned. They have now recovered to be healthy ecosystems once again, boosting lobster populations.

Those increased populations spill over into the wider sea, where catches have increased. There is also a report on the world’s largest marine protected area, off Hawaii.

And Sir David points to the reversal of fortunes for the world’s whales after an international whaling ban was finally secured.

In sites where fishing is banned, coral recovers from bleaching because fish eat smothering algae, which allows the ecosystem to regrow. “The ocean can recover faster than we thought possible,” Sir David says. “If we just let nature take its course, the sea will save itself. If we can protect areas on land where the entire human population requires space to live, surely we can do it in the sea.

“Restoring the ocean is for everyone on Earth. In front of us is a chance to protect our climate, our food. After a lifetime of filming the natural world, I cannot remember a more exciting opportunity for our species. This could be the moment of change. Nearly every country on Earth has just agreed on paper to achieve this bare minimum and fully protect a third of the ocean. Together, we now face the challenge of making it happen.”

At 99, Sir David still has the twinkle in his eyes of a much younger filmmaker when he speaks of the great creatures and beauty found beneath the waves.

Thinking of 1957, when he was on the Great Barrier Reef, he says: “The first time I used scuba gear to dive on a coral reef, I was so taken aback by the spectacle before me I, momentarily, forgot to breathe.” Sir David concludes in the film: “It is my great hope that we all come to see the ocean, not as a dark and distant place with little relevance to our lives on land, but as the life blood of our home.

“After almost 100 years on the planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land.”

As well as its vital message, the film has the stunning photography typical of an Attenborough project. Images include clownfish close-ups, Hawaiian green sea turtles on a beach, and a pod of dolphins feeding.

Toby Nowlan, Ocean’s director and producer, said: “Few could argue David Attenborough is one of the greatest storytellers of all time, and so for this film to be his greatest, most important message ever is no small thing.

“Indeed it surely doesn’t get bigger than this. It was only by making this film that my eyes were truly opened to how key the ocean is to all life on Earth, and how capable it is of recovery.

“I truly believe that if millions of people see this film, we could make history. We could fully protect a third of the ocean and change the course of our future. Producing and directing this film has been the privilege of my career.”

The premiere was attended on Tuesday night by and key figures from entertainment and conservation. TV star , who watched the film with her 19-year-old son Alastair said: “Sir David is one of those iconic figures we assume will be in our lives for ever.

“He says in the film he is coming to the end of his life and it is like this is his last opportunity to send a strong message. Sir David’s devotion to humanity and nature in harmony is similar to that of the King.”

Michael Palin, a friend of Sir David, told the : “David is the gold standard to which all presenters aspire. He is simply the best and has been for a long, long time.”

Trawling the seabed is still permitted in 74% of England’s inshore marine protected areas and in 92% of ’s, the Blue Marine Foundation charity said. Marine minister Emma Hardy said: “Our precious marine animals and habitats have been under threat for too long. This government is committed to protecting and restoring our oceans to good health, and banning destructive bottom trawling where it is damaging protected seabed habitats.”

* Ocean with David Attenborough is released as a global cinema event from today. Tickets available at oceanfilm.net