Blue Planet III fans are left in tears just minutes into the new series by a humpback whale's death as they laud David Attenborough's 'beautiful and mesmerising' return to the seas

Blue Planet III made its much-anticipated debut on Sunday night, and viewers were quickly left crying into their teacups by a raw look at life under the sea.The acclaimed series is the first since 2017, and is once again narrated by David Attenborough after he celebrated his 100th birthday earlier this year.After four years of filming, the series began with an episode on tropical seas, and told the story of a humpback whale who tragically died after travelling across the world for better waters.Fish could be seen gathering around the whale as it passed, and by the following morning, its entire body had been eaten. The first episode also shined a light on the impact that climate change continues to have on the oceans, by showing how coral reefs can turn toxic in warmer waters.Fans shared on X that it was an emotional start to the series, but others praised the show's 'beautiful and mesmerising' return. Blue Planet III made its much-anticipated debut on Sunday night, and viewers were quickly left crying into their teacups by a raw look at life under the sea The acclaimed series is the first since 2017, and is once again narrated by David Attenborough after he celebrated his 100th birthday earlier this year (pictured during the second series)The Daily Mail's TV critic Christopher Stevens agreed it was an 'extraordinary' opening episode. You can read his five star review here. They wrote: 'Oh FGS it's WAY too early in the series for a Humpback to be dying! You could have broken us in gently at least!'The camera work, lighting and David Attenborough's voice create the most beautiful television. How anyone can watch this and not think we must do everything possible and more to preserve our planet; That poor whale;''Oh no I'm too hungover to deal with dying whales;''This man is incredible;''Absolutely mesmerising television. Welcome back... Sunday evening sorted.'Sir David who has been presenting natural history shows on the BBC and beyond since 1954, is no stranger to travelling far and wide to showcase some of wildlife's most interesting and curious moments.Blue Planet was first broadcast in 2001, followed by a second series in 2017.Earlier this year, the nature presenter reflected on his illustrious career while celebrating his 100th birthday in a one-off special for Netflix. After four years of filming, the series began with an episode on tropical seas, and told the story of a humpback whale who tragically died after travelling across the world for better waters Fish could be seen gathering around the whale as it passed, and by the following morning, its entire body had been eaten Fans shared on X that it was an emotional start to the series, but others praised the show's 'beautiful and mesmerising' returnIn 1978, the broadcaster travelled to Rwanda for a segment filmed for his show Life On Earth, where he was seen meeting a group of gorillas, including an up-close encounter with baby gorilla, Pablo.Reading from the diary, David recalled the details of the moment he came face to face with Pablo. He admitted that the encounter was never 'supposed to happen' as they had originally travelled to Rwanda to film a small segment on opposable thumbs, before it was revealed they could meet with the gorillas.David read: 'We start the one-and-a-half-hour walk up the mountain. Slowly the nondescript bush transforms into the high altitude rainforest.'Long-branched trees loaded with cushions of epiphytes. Green ribbon-leaved ferns with wispy pallid Spanish moss everywhere.'We found a group of females and juveniles in a small clearing and to my astonishment, they allowed me to approach.'Recalling the moment he met the gorillas, David continued: 'I had to pause and exchange a deep-throated grunt. The reassurance noise meaning, "I’m here".''What I don’t say there is that this wasn’t supposed to be a film of meeting gorillas directly.'The function of the sequence was the importance of the thumb and forefinger, the opposable thumb and forefinger. We didn’t think we were going to be in touch with them.'I turned to look back at the camera, I felt a weight on my feet and I looked down, and there was little Pablo. I couldn’t talk about the evolution of the thumb and forefinger, I just sit back and let it happen.'Look at this lovely little creature. Absolutely engaging, you want to hug him. Just sheer bliss, really. Many people would think it was the most important sequence in that series, if not in my filmed life.''I will never forget him or the impact he had on me,' David concluded of Pablo