The waters of the UK Overseas Territories are Britain’s distant seas.

They grant the UK the world’s 5th largest ocean estate and the 12th largest area of coral reefs.

Spanning over 5.5 million km2, these remote watery tracts of the UK are scattered over all Seven Seas and are home to every major aquatic ecosystem on Earth, including temperate kelp forests, tropical coral gardens, seagrass beds, deep sea plains and trenches, little-explored seamounts and recently-discovered ‘black smoker’ geothermal vents.

Countless species of aquatic animals live or feed in the waters around the UK Overseas Territories, including immense numbers of invertebrates, vast shoals of reef fish, whale sharks, rays, dolphins, sea turtles, penguins and seals!

Large expanses of the waters around the UK Overseas Territories remain little explored, and new species and extraordinary discoveries continue to be made.

This documentary explores the astounding marine biodiversity of Britain's Distant Seas.

A DVD version of this film was sent to 20,000 schools across the UK and the UK Overseas Territories as part of the 2020 Hanson Box (see www.hansonbox.org ).

This film was made possible by the Don Hanson Charitable Foundation.

Created in partnership with Friends of the British Overseas Territories.