Sir David Attenborough has said a new polar research vessel should not be called RRS Boaty McBoatface despite it coming top of a public poll which voted the esteemed natural history broadcaster in fifth place.
The government has already signalled that it will ignore the results of the poll run by the Natural Environment Research Council to name the £200m state-of-the-art ship.
The suggestion received 124,109 votes, four times more than second-placed RRS Poppy-Mai, named after a 16-month-old girl with incurable cancer.
The RRS David Attenborough came fifth with 10,284 votes, one place behind RSS It’s Bloody Cold Here which came fourth.
Attenborough joked that it was “so disappointing” that he had not topped the poll.
“It’s a compliment of course, I don’t spurn a compliment and I’m very grateful. But I don’t think it’s of any consequence,” he said.
Attenborough told the Guardian: “I think they should call it something serious. I mean, words like discovery, endurance, victory, indomitable, looking at the Navy it’s got a great tradition of a lot of good names, you know?”
The name was first put forward by James Hand, a former BBC radio presenter, who expressed surprise at the furore Boaty McBoatface had caused.
Jo Johnson, the science minister, signalled earlier this week the government was preparing to activate its get-out clause.
He said the government wanted a name that “lasts longer than a social media news cycle and reflects the serious nature of the science it will be doing.
“There are many excellent suggestions among the 7,000 names put forward by members of the public and we’ll make a decision as to which one should be put forward for the royal warrant when we’ve had a chance to review them all.”
Attenborough turns 90 next month and the BBC will mark the milestone with a season of programmes including one of his first projects, Zoo Quest, which will be shown in colour for the first time.
The season of programmes will also include new programmes Attenborough at 90 and Life that Glows, a documentary about bioluminescence, the light made by living things, and four of his landmark documentaries over the years.
