Puff: Wonders of the Reef — A Tiny Fish, a Vast Ocean, and the Humans Who Brought It to Life
Upon release in 2021, Puff: Wonders of the Reef was expected to be just another underwater documentary, featuring the predictable mix of captivating marine visuals and a voiceover of soft narration. However, it quickly became clear it was something far more personal and poetic. Audiences experienced, through the eyes of a baby puffer fish Puff, a story of survival, inquisitiveness and awe that traversed Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It was more than a documentary about the sea; it was a meditation on existence — delicate, beautiful, and, above all, unendingly astonishing.
Still, the incredible story of Puff’s small but visually gigantic production, and the extraordinary people who created it — the underwater world of the film’s capture crew, the persistent troubles with the needed technology, and the real-world bonds with the ocean that the filmmakers were trying to capture — was, incredibly, not seen by many.
A World Through Tiny Eyes
The narrative of Puff: Wonders of the Reef revolves around one of the ocean’s smallest creatures — a baby pufferfish, affectionately nicknamed Puff. Through his journey, we witness coral forests, underwater caves, and the micro-universe that exists within the reef. Everything is presented from Puff’s perspective — the coral looks monumental, the sand becomes a desert, and the predators seem like gods.
The story doesn’t rely on human dialogue or dramatic tension; instead, it flows like a fable about innocence and discovery. The filmmakers used innovative macro cinematography to make the viewer feel as if they, too, were small enough to swim alongside Puff. The film’s tone feels meditative — not rushed, not performative — just nature unfolding at its own rhythm.
The documentary’s emotional power lies in its balance: the moments of danger as Puff hides from predators like crabs or groupers, followed by awe-inspiring visuals of coral polyps blooming under sunlight. Every frame feels alive — which is why the film resonated deeply with audiences across ages, from schoolchildren to marine biologists.
The Human Hands Behind Puff’s Ocean
While Puff is the main focus of the film, there is unrecognized talent behind the camera—filmmakers who made Puff’s underwater world accessible to the general audience. Nick Robinson, the director, and Pete West, the producer, devoted many years to this film, and it was grounded in their love for marine life. Nick Robinson had previously worked on many wildlife documentaries, but this one required a completely different approach to storytelling, one that intertwined science and art.
The team spent over 3,000 hours underwater to film the reef, and that number represented many hours of preparation and filming in unpredictable and extreme ocean conditions. Diving at odd hours, and carrying equipment that could withstand underwater conditions. During the production, the world was struck with the COVID-19 pandemic. This severely limited international travel and the film’s budget. The crew, located in Queensland, had to work with local crew and limited resources. They had no resources left to focus on the main vision of the film.
“Filming baby pufferfish required small, slow, and ocean-accepting breaths… In contrast to shooting big sharks, filming pufferfish required a true, deep patience.” Pete West. That patience became the soul of the film.
Using micro 8K cameras and purpose-built underwater equipment, cinematographers filmed the fluorescent emissions of corals at night- the divine underwater art of the bloom, emissions to the naked eye, captured on the cameras. For these scenes, the crew spent hours in silence, suspended in the void as still as the water around them, waiting for the corals to ‘live’ for the camera.
Emotion and Narration- The Human Voice of the Ocean
Rose Byrne, an award winning actress, narrated Puff: Wonders of the Reef, with the calm and warmth that the production required. Byrne, with many celebrated performances in Bridesmaids, Insidious and Damages, has been known for the ‘empathy’ in her voice. In her extensive work, this was the first time she was asked to voice a ‘non-human’ character.
Byrne has noted that the work of ‘voicing’ Puff’s journey was akin to ‘reading a bedtime story to humanity’. During lockdown, she had to set up a remote studio in her Sydney home to record her voice, and with children at home, the environmental message of the production became even more apparent. She said, “When you narrate a baby fish’s life, you realize how delicate the world really is — and how much of it depends on our choices,” she shared in a podcast conversation.
It was not just technical. It had a pulse. An emotional sincerity made the audience feel protective of the small creature on the screen.
The Hype. The Wonder. The Waves it Created.
When the film was announced as a Netflix Original documentary, the curiosity in the streaming world was palpable. Would a film about a baby fish hold the world’s attention in an age of fast entertainment? That doubt was completely changed with the trailer. It showcased captivating cinematography, with coral reefs glimmering like galaxies and plankton swirling like cosmic dust. It became a must-watch film for nature enthusiasts, families, and animation fans, and many referred to it as “Finding Nemo” in real life.
When it was finally available to stream, Puff: Wonders of the Reef was allowed to the Top 10 most streamed films on Netflix in India, and many other countries. During the pandemic, the film’s rhythm and visual grandeur was calming for many. It was rare to offer something like peace in 2021. Audiences from major cities in India, like Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai, were immensely grateful for the film’s reminder of balance, coexistence, the smallness of human worry and its many distractions.
Indian marine biologist and ocean advocates even integrated scenes from the movie in their environmental campaigns. The notion of life at the smallest scale being powerful struck an Indian chord where one of the most powerful ideas of Indian spirituality is the “divine exists in every living being.”
What Happened when the Cameras were Off
Calm and serene is how the underwater filming is often described. However, the filming ‘process’ is anything but calm. The crew had to do some dangerous diving during their shoots, where they encountered moving currents, swarms of jellyfish, and poor visibility. The most stressful times were during the night shoots when the plankton attracted plankton. Divers were responsible for the fragile camera rigs and had to protect themselves.
As one behind-the-scenes story, cinematographer Simon de Glanville had a strange experience. While filming, a curious octopus wrapped itself around the lens and caused the whole frame to become a surreal blur. Due to the octopus, Simon recorded the moment which was ultimately added to the final edit as a representation of the ocean’s beauty and unpredictability.
Another emotional challenge involved filming the dying corals. The crew documented the Great Barrier Reef’s Turning Patch Reef’s Punk Wading Pool Bleaching to Spite Death. Robinson recalled it as, “There were days when it seemed like the ocean was dying. We had to film that too – that’s part of Puff’s world.’”
To counteract fatigue, the divers bonded in ruined underwater birthday celebrations. They called it Puff’s family.
More Than a Documentary. A Mirror to Ourselves.
The story of Puff: Wonders of the Reef is not simply about a baby fish. It’s a meditation on survival, change, and perspective. While human life feels rushed, noisy, and chaotic, the film spells it out: the greatest stories unfold in silence.
Winning Outstanding Nature Documentary in 2022 holds little weight compared to the documentary’s real success: changing how we perceive the ocean, no longer a distant entity, but a living, breathing entity, a neighboring canvas of life.
Like Puff, the filmmakers experienced their own doubt, terror, and tenuous expectation. However, the documentary does not solely tell the tale of a fish at the end. When Puff’s final shot gliding into the sea fades, we once again tell of resilience as a species, looking more closely, listening more softly, and, at the same time, wondering to a greater and more profound degree.
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