BEAR Grylls' brand new show Hostile Planet sees baby sea turtle nearly drown in emotional scenes.

The adventurer, 44, reveals what happens when mating turtles are interrupted by another insistent male, and the result is difficult to watch.

In a first look clip from episode two, viewers can see an unwelcome male turtle nipping at the mounting male’s soft flesh in a bid to get him to let go of his mate.

He clings on, but in doing so, the female is unable to resurface. She thrashes in vain but sinks lower and quickly begins to run out of oxygen.

Bear explains: “The fiercer the pursuit, the more oxygen she burns. A stressed turtle can drown in minutes. She is desperate to reach the surface and breath but one challenger just won’t give up.

''The female is running on empty.”

The incredible footage was captured by divers who spent up to six hours at a time filming under water.

The second episode of Hostile Planet explores how harsh life is in our vibrant oceans, revealing the incredible survival stories of olive ridley turtles, how seals team up to fight off hungry sharks, and how ingenious orcas keep one step ahead of the competition.

Hostile Planet cameraman Mateo Willis explained how special dive equipment lets the divers stay under water without breathing out loud oxygen bubbles.

He said: “No turtle costumes were used, but instead of breathing air in a normal tank which releases a lot of gas and makes noises as the air bubbles go up to the surface, they will use rebreathers which recirculates the air and scrubs the carbon dioxide out of it, replacing it with oxygen.

''They hardly make any noise because they’re not making a stream of bubbles. It’s amazing how much more natural animals will behave around divers using rebreathers.”

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Filming the series is a labour of love. For every minute of footage aired, another 800 have been left on the cutting room floor.

Mateo said: “We have a ratio of 800 to one. It took three years to film.”

The landmark series covers the world’s most brutal environments taking in mountains, grasslands, jungles, deserts, and finally, the north and south poles, revealing the incredible lengths Earth’s creatures must go to just to survive.

Hostile Planet airs on National Geographic on Sunday, May 5 at 9pm.

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