April is Earth Month, which means it's time to sit back and celebrate planet Earth in all the glorious ways it sustains, inspires and awes us with every day that passes.
There's no better way to do just that than by catching a nature documentary or two on Netflix. The platform is home to so many eye-popping studies of the world around us, from a broad look at animal species and how they interact with each other to chimpanzee communities and their intricate social workings.
These beautifully shot documentaries and showcases of Earth's natural beauty are well worth taking a few hours of your day to enjoy. Not sure where to start? Check out the five Netflix nature documentaries we've highlighted below for an at-home marathon of Earth's many wonders.
'My Octopus Teacher'
South African naturalist Craig Foster takes a year to explore Cape Town and dive into an underwater kelp forest. He makes a true blue friend during his travels in the form of a tiny but extraordinarily intelligent octopus. Foster continues to grow attached to the creature while learning important lessons about the overreach of humanity when it comes to nature. He must also reckon with what happens when he's meant to leave the world the octopus lives in when it's time to go, which will undoubtedly tug at your heartstrings as much as the innocent cephalopod.
Watch on Netflix
'Our Planet'
Famed nature doc narrator David Attenborough guides you through the world's natural wonders across this eight-episode series. It explores the habitats and behaviors of a mere sampling of the animal species found across the globe with close-ups and jaw-dropping footage. But it also shines an important spotlight on how climate change threatens to rob these creatures of their homes and eventually their lives as the planet must come to terms with humanity's impact on the world as it stands today.
Watch on Netflix
'Life in Color with David Attenborough'
This eye-popping exploration of color and the role it plays in the daily life of species around Earth is nothing short of a spectacle. Attenborough is on board once more as a narrator as he guides you through a look at how animals use color to survive, find love, express themselves, and warn enemies that they're messing with the wrong animal.
Watch on Netflix
'Chimp Empire'
The Ngogo community of chimpanzees is a massive gathering of animals in Kibale National Park, Uganda, that exists in two competing groups. It's considered the largest known group of chimps in the entire world, and filmmakers caught exciting footage from the Ngogo groups' most important milestones while creating this documentary, from fights over territory to birth and death and everything in between. This is the ultimate study of chimps and what makes them tick, right in their natural habitat.
Watch on Netflix
'Our Great Natural Parks'
Former President Barack Obama hosts and narrates this tour of some of the world's biggest national parks and the wildlife that dwells within. It showcases 13 different national parks across five episodes and is jam-packed with gorgeous photography, intriguing narratives about the life within each park, and more. It's an uplifting look at parks on five different continents and a passport to adventure that'll stir your wanderlust in a great way.
Watch on Netflix
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