Blue Planet II has inspired a group of young artists who want to save the oceans

I like the more ferocious animals like the sixgill shark, which fights for food and its family. When I first saw the scabbard fish, I thought it was really eye-catching. It’s silver like metal, and glistening. It swims upright, so if a predator comes from underneath, it’s just gone! I thought, “How fascinating!” I never knew about those before. I’d like to know more about the deep sea near the North Pole. Are the creatures there hot or cold? Something that made me sad was seeing a sea turtle get stuck in a net — I don’t like people throwing litter in the sea. From now on I’ll make sure I walk to school and I’m going to make a sign about not putting litter on the ground.

• How Blue Planet II filmed the gorgeous light show with rays and luminous plankton
• How Blue Planet II filmed the incredible fish vs bird sequence in episode one
• The “giant carnivorous” bobbit worm turns Blue Planet II into an actual horror movie

Ginevra, 8

I really like all the different kinds of fish and colours, but my favourite kind of animal in the sea is the dolphin. It was really interesting to see how they jump for fun — I just thought they did that because they needed to. Also, how they rub against coral to protect themselves from diseases, and the way the adults were showing their little kids how to do it. The sixgill shark looked really scary, and when one found food, it was really disgusting the way the blood came out! Sea creatures are amazing, and that’s why I’d never pollute the ocean — it’s my favourite place to be. I’m worried that some animals are going to die before I even see them.

Lucy, 8

When you watch Blue Planet II, it feels like it’s not in this world — but another planet or universe. It’s amazing that it’s just the sea, not some mysterious, magical place! When I heard that they know more about Mars than the deep sea, I was amazed. I like seeing the strange fish — they’re usually in the unlikeliest forms. You think you know what fish look like, but you go into the deep parts of the sea and see some really odd creatures. I also found it fascinating that the sixgill shark can survive a year without eating. I’d be starving! I’m worried about the walruses and their babies and the melting ice caps. I think if I was really small and I couldn’t sit down, I’d feel scared.

Zahir, 8

I like watching the horrid bits! It’s called the circle of life — when you’re hungry, you have to eat other animals! One of my favourite characters is the cut-throat eel — I like all types of eels. I like how they twist and turn and tie themselves up in knots. The underwater volcanoes are surprising — it looks like the desert at night. You forget it’s under water because it explodes as if it was on land. I do worry about some of the animals. People throw rubbish on the beach, and that’s where turtles lay their eggs. What if the rubbish attracts seagulls and they come down and eat the newborn turtles? I went to the beach with my mum and my sister and we picked lots of litter up off the sand.

Sacha, 8

I really want to see a shark and a whale. I want to see how big they are in real life. Maybe those are things I’ll get to experience when I’m older. I find it really funny that when squid run out of food, they try to eat each other. And if one kills another and they don’t want other squid to know, it will squirt ink out to camouflage itself. I’ve learnt that we need things like icebergs to help animals like walruses to survive, and they’re melting because of global warming. We should use less electricity. It’s hard to stop computing because I love it, but I only go on it for ten minutes a day now. My mum and dad are pretty proud!

Taylor, 8

I’ve got quite a lot of fish at home — two tanks — so when I see animals die, I get quite upset. And I felt so sorry for the walruses. I knew nothing about them before I watched this, but they’re quite intriguing. Watching the mother escaping the polar bears and trying to protect her baby while also trying to rest on the melting ice caps that kept breaking — she was really going through it. Animals get tired, they can’t just keep swimming, but because of global warming, the walruses have nowhere to go. I know that when you go to the beach, you shouldn’t leave plastic rubbish on the sand — it goes into the water and animals eat it. If they start to die, we’ll have no sea life.

Theo 9

Everyone thinks that fish have a five-second memory, but actually they’re extremely clever. The tusk fish was really amazing — it swam to the same part of the ocean each day looking for a clam, then whacked the clam shell against the stone and eventually broke it to get to the nice juicy meat inside. Doing the same thing, taking the same route, every single day — I never knew that would happen. And it makes me think if it can go to the same spot each day, it can probably do a lot more than that, it definitely knows other skills. I love how Blue Planet II is made. Developing oxygen masks that make no bubbles so they don’t scare the wildlife and filming dolphins surfing. It’s so fascinating.

Najma, 8

I used to think it was just sharks, fish, octopus and squid in the sea. Now I know about turtles, bottlenosed dolphins, everything! I never knew that any animal could change from female to male, but I saw in Blue Planet II that kobudai fish can change in just four months. I also liked learning about the dolphins who could remember the whales that were their friends a long time ago. It’s so cool! But I learnt that animals are getting killed by nets and plastic, so at home I don’t throw anything in the bin — we recycle everything in the right place. Not a lot of people think about the environment and wildlife, just about themselves.

Blue Planet II is on Sunday at 8pm on BBC1