Today’s spectacular, eye-popping documentary feature “Ocean with David Attenborough” only took 3-plus years, three directors, several ships, fearless divers, camera crews and the 99-year-old icon to tell an incredible but true story perfectly timed for its NatGeo premiere, the day before Sunday’s World Ocean Day celebrations.

“We had this idea three-and-a-half years ago with David Attenborough to tell this incredible 100-year-story of the ocean,” director Colin Butfield said in a joint phone interview.

“Our first act really is all about discovery, particularly in David’s lifetime. How we’ve gone from knowing almost nothing about the ocean to a really deeply understanding and finding these incredible habitats within it.

“The second part is immersing us in the destruction they’ve got. The third, which has only been possible to film in the last 15 or 20 years, are the most incredible examples of ocean recovery anywhere on the planet.

“It was important that we film those because it’s not enough to just say, ‘Oh, we should be hopeful for the future.’ There was a chance we can actually show it for the first time! ‘Ocean’ was designed to show all three things in one cinematic story.

“We worked together but divided it up as well. A lot of what I did was based in the UK, working with David.”

Noted director Keith Scholey, “I’m the old boy on the team, I’ve worked with David for 44 years. I was bringing great experience; I’ve made a lot of ocean films before.

“That meant we can cut to the chase quite quickly if you know certain places work, other places don’t. And then Toby Nowlan brought youthful exuberance.”

“After the last 17 years David Attenborough remains the inspiration to my getting into this business,” Nowlan, 37, said. “Keith asked me to come in and direct the two years of filming, and lead and direct the edit, deliver the film. That’s what I’ve done for the last three years.

“It’s been an incredible privilege. Even after working on David’s films for quite a while, nothing comes close to the personal piece which is this seminal feature film with David Attenborough’s greatest message, his most important story he’s ever told, doing it when he’s 99.

“It’s remarkable, isn’t it? I remember being with him on a freezing cold winter beach filming the opening and closing with those last lines: ‘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 lifeblood of our home. For if we save the sea, we save our world.’”

“Ocean with David Attenborough” streams on NatGeo June 7