See the Great Barrier Reef like never before on Reef Live.
Last year, I ticked the bucket list dream of exploring the vibrancy of the Great Barrier Reef at great depths as a diver. Never did I think I could experience the same joys and sense of wonder of navigating the reef from the comfort of my couch. But here we are in 2020 and yet again about to experience something like nothing we have before.
This evening, ABC will be broadcasting a one-of-a-kind live stream, Reef Live to give a glimpse into Australia’s greatest natural phenomenon occurring in the reef – spawning.
Spawning only happens once a year with experts predicting it would happen this weekend. It generally occurs when ocean temperatures have reached 26C or above for a month. After November’s full moon is when all the stars align for the reef to start reproducing. It is a period where there is little tidal movement and whereby the corals in the reef release eggs and sperm into the water over a few days and things in the ocean get frisky.
Co-host of Reef Live actor Brooke Satchwell told news.com.au:
“This is an Australian first, it’s a real time visual insight into this massive biological phenomenon,”
“It’s a breeding event on such a scale that it can be seen from space.”
Remarkably, our colourful icon is the only natural structure that can be seen unaided from space and is home to approximately 9000 species and counting – especially this weekend.
“They are all regenerating and procreating because of the synchronicity of the temperature, light and the moon,” Satchwell said.
To understand the scale of this extraordinary event, Satchwell compared it being to the size of Italy. Now that is one epic procreation marathon event!
Reef Live will air 8.30pm on Friday and 8.40pm on Sunday, with Satchwell saying the broadcast will provide a “glass bottom boat into people’s living rooms”.
Satchwell will be joined in the studio with Q&A host Hamish MacDonald and scientist and inventor Dr Jordan Nguyen for interviews with the Indigenous community and conservationists during the broadcast.
Watch Reef Live this weekend on ABC TV and iView.
Feature image: @gio_aroundtheworld via Unsplash
See more: Travel news
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