Word on the Reef
Diving into marine science adventures on the Great Barrier Reef and beyond!
Word on the Reef
Latest Episodes
S3 E13: The First Scientists: How Indigenous Knowledge can Help Protect our Oceans
For 65,000 years before computers, satellites, and scientific journals, Australia's first peoples were reading tides, stars, seasons, animal behaviour, currents, and ecosystems with extraordinary precision. Yet until recently, their knowledge w...
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S3 E12: Mud, Blood and Sea Turtles: Caitlin's Quest to Give Turtles a Future
In 2022, a mass stranding of more than 600 sick turtles devastated Hervey Bay in South East Queensland. As volunteers worked tirelessly to rescue them, scientists got to work on solving the puzzle: what caused this disaster?Dr Caitlin Sm...
S3 E11: Befriending Giants: The Secret Lives of Manta Rays
Professor Kathy Townsend knew she wanted to be a marine biologist from the age of five, and completed her very first dive in a frozen Canadian lake. But it was the moment a five-metre manta ray draped its tail over her shoulder like an affectio...
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S3 E10: Dugong Wars: The Fight to Save Mermaids with Professor Helene Marsh
When Professor Helene Marsh first began researching dugongs on the Great Barrier Reef, the only ones she encountered were dead - tangled in fishing nets.Then, in the 1990s, Queensland became the centre of a fierce conservation battle kno...
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S3 E9: Meet Gary, the King of Nudibranchs (AKA the Ocean’s Craziest Sea Slugs)
He's broken several world records: largest group skydive, longest scuba dive on a single tank—and the most species of nudibranchs ever found on a single dive (71).He's spent 23 years chasing these tiny creatures, building a global follow...
