Planet Earth II's 'Cities' series finale had viewers in tears with the story of the plight of baby hawksbill turtles.

The episode has its own Pixar moment with emotional scenes featuring hatchlings making their journey towards the sea.

Normally they're guided towards the water by the moonlight's reflection on the sea but as cities are built up around beaches, the bright urban lights are causing confusion and making their journey treacherous.

Emotional scenes saw hundreds of hatchlings being crushed by cars or falling down drains as they made their way towards the city instead of the sea, disorientated by urban lights.

It was harrowing but necessary viewing as it reminded viewers that we are allowing animals to suffer by thoughtlessly encroaching on their habitats.

Devastated viewers took to Twitter to query the fate of the turtles who were filmed in the show.

@DearJane Every turtle that was seen/filmed by the crew, was collected and put back into the sea. And there is help https://t.co/3wqqoxjwfc — BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) December 11, 2016

“Every turtle that was seen or filmed by the #PlanetEarth2 crew was collected and put back into the sea,” BBC Earth confirmed on Twitter.

The BBC explained the Planet Earth crew broke convention to help the lost turtles because the problems they were facing were man-made.

The Barbados Sea Turtle Project is one of the many great causes fighting to protect our wildlife. #planetearth2 https://t.co/xokLUvqlNt — Charlotte Bostock (@C_Bostock) December 11, 2016

This was retweeted thousands of times, but one viewer questioned: “What about thereafter? Any local groups monitoring?”

The BBC had it covered, posting a video paying tribute to local conservationists the Barbados Sea Turtle Project, who helped the crew “enormously” and continue to rescue and fight for the turtles all year round.

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