BBC Accused Of “Airbrushing” Amateur Fossil Finder Out Of David Attenborough ‘Sea Monster’ Doc As Naming Petition Passes 2,000 Signatures
04.01.2024 - 12:29
/ deadline.com
The BBC has come under fire from the scientific community after a David Attenborough documentary about a recently discovered underwater creature only briefly mentioned the fossil finder who found it.
More than 2,000 signatures have been recorded on a change.org petition to have the pliosaur named after Philip Jacobs, who was named only as a “fossil enthusiast” towards the end of Attenborough and the Great Sea Monster.
“This particular find is being quoted as being one of the most significant fossils to have ever been found,” wrote Anna Morell, who began the petition. “It is unique. It is huge. It is significant. And yet Philip’s name is being effectively airbrushed from the historical record when it comes to this important find. Much of the global promotional media fails to mention him.”
Jacobs posted on Facebook following the program, writing: “I’ve been completely airbrushed out of my own discovery, not even a mention. I have no words.”
The amateur fossil finder spotted the snout of pliosaur, which is thought to be around 150 million-years-old while on a beach walk in Dorset, UK, in April 2022. The rest of a two-meter skull was then excavated, with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit reacting quickly to the news to film the dig.
The film, documenting the “discovery of a lifetime,” went out on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on New Years Day (January 1) and was met with widespread acclaim.
Several figures from the palaeontology, including TV presenter Dean Lomax, criticized the BBC over Jacobs’ omission. “Philip Jacobs deserves a huge amount of credit, not only for making the discovery but for ensuring that it was saved for science. It is a real oversight for [the BBC] not to – at the very least – have name-checked Philip,”