Word on the Reef

Epizode

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  S3 E27: Saving Wildlife from Deadly Shark Nets with Brenton Owens, Kaelan Lockhart and Pierick Martin 14.09.2026 48min

  Send us Fan Mail The whale was bellowing out for help - so Brenton Owens weighed up the risks, and acted. A few days later, he received an infringement notice. In 2024, diver and environmental scientist Brenton Owens and a group of neighbours paddle-boarded out to rescue a humpback whale entangled in a shark net, risking legal action and fines of more than $30,000. Moved by that experience, he recently kayaked more than 1,300 kilometres from the Gold Coast to Airlie Beach to document the impa...
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  S3 E26: The Human-Nature Connection with Tyá Dynevor 08.09.2026 53min

  Send us Fan Mail Tyá Dynevor has always felt a special connection with animals, which has led her to becoming an ethnozoologist - someone who studies the relationship between humans and animals. It's something Traditional Owners have known about for millennia. We sat down with Tyá for a powerful discussion about how Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western science can work together to keep Country and people healthy. We dig into reciprocity with nature, the spiritual side of Ind...
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  Meet Legendary 90-Year-Old Shipwreck-Hunter Ben Cropp 01.09.2026 1h 6min

  Send us Fan Mail Now available in video format on Spotify and Apple Podcasts! In this episode we sit down with Australian diving legend Ben Cropp AM to trace a life that swings from shark hunting fame to conservation, shipwreck discovery, and hard-won lessons from 70 years of diving on the Great Barrier Reef. He tells us what it really takes to stay alive underwater, think like a skipper, and keep chasing purpose into one's 90s. Along the way we'll learn about the whale shark encounter that c...
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  S3 E24: Magnetic Island Residents Fight Dredge Spoil Dumping 19.08.2026 34min

  Send us Fan Mail A group of Magnetic Island residents believes the annual dumping of maintenance dredge spoil by the Port of Townsville may be creating sediment plumes that smother some of the island's pristine bays, coral reefs, and marine life. And with the port now applying for a 10-year permit to continue the dumping at its current site, they're calling for community members to have their say. In this episode of Word on the Reef, we're joined by one of those residents, Gethin Morgan...
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  S3 E23: The Power of Parrotfish PLUS Priority Reefs with Professor Pete Mumby 15.08.2026 46min

  Send us Fan Mail Twenty years ago, the Belize Barrier Reef was in serious trouble, and nobody could quite figure out why. Then Professor Pete Mumby helped uncover the surprising role of an unlikely reef hero: the parrotfish. Today, we’re diving into the incredible world of these colourful fish and discovering how they can help protect coral reefs. PLUS… if you only have limited time, people and resources to protect some of the Great Barrier Reef’s 3,000 individual reefs, which ones would you ...
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  S3 E22: Fear vs Facts: Australia's Shark Culling Debate 05.08.2026 56min

  Send us Fan Mail They’ve claimed the lives of thousands of marine animals along Australia’s east coast, including turtles, whales, dolphins, rays and dugongs. No, we’re not talking about sharks. We’re talking about the shark nets and baited drum lines deployed by the Queensland and New South Wales governments. But do these programs actually protect swimmers? Does the evidence support shark culling? And what alternatives could keep both people and marine life safe? This week, hosts Tanya Murph...
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  S3 E21: Diving Indonesia's Incredible Komodo Islands 28.07.2026 33min

  Send us Fan Mail Join us aboard the luxury liveaboard boat Mikumba Dua for a journey into one of the world's most incredible destinations! We'll explore local culture with our guide Filan, climb mountains, and enjoy some of the top rated scuba diving in the world. This episode includes an interview with local dive instructor Wili, and along the way we'll answer all your questions: How do I get to Komodo and what can I see there?Which are the best dive sites to visit?When's the best time to se...
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  S3 E20: The Last Saw: Saving Sawfish with Dr Barbara Wueringer 20.07.2026 46min

  Send us Fan Mail Sawfish, the extraordinary relatives of sharks and rays, once roamed tropical and subtropical waters around the globe. Today they've vanished from much of their former range, with Northern Australia remaining one of their last global strongholds. All five sawfish species are now listed as critically endangered, yet most Australians know surprisingly little about these remarkable animals. So, what exactly ARE these crazy-looking critters? Are they really as scary as they look?...
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  S3 E19: Protecting Paradise: The Future of the Coral Sea Marine Park 12.07.2026 41min

  Send us Fan Mail Beyond the Great Barrier Reef lies one of the world's largest marine protected areas: the Coral Sea Marine Park. Home to spectacular reefs, abundant marine life and some of the planet's best dive sites, it's one of Australia's last great ocean wildernesses. But is it getting the protection it deserves? On today's show, hosts Tanya Murphy and Brett Goodban are joined by Dive Queensland Principal Terry Cummins and Save Our Marine Life Coral Sea Campaigner Steve Ryan to explore ...
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  S3 E18: Gone Buggo: Tiny Animals of the Reef and Rainforest with Steven Gill 08.07.2026 56min

  Send us Fan Mail Reef and Rainforest tour guide Steven Gill is on a mission to bug you... in the best possible way. Armed with a camera, a handful of LEGO bricks and an infectious love for the tiny creatures we usually overlook, he's proving that the smallest critters often have the biggest personalities. Along the way we'll meet Katy Perry, get business advice from a cleaner wrasse, and explore the surprising connection between the world's oldest surviving rainforest and the Great Barrier Re...
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  S3 E17: CoralWatch: Citizen Science in Full Colour 04.07.2026 44min

  Send us Fan Mail Fifty shades of coral? Not quite... but those colours tell an incredible story. This week we're diving into CoralWatch, the world's longest-running DIY reef science project. Discover how anyone with a mask, a colour chart and a love of coral can help scientists monitor reef health. Diana Kleine from the University of Queensland (pictured in the episode thumbnail image) joins us to prove that citizen science is anything but black and white. She also shares insights on the 'Wha...
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  S3 E16: Fish out of their (Usual) Waters: Why Marine Life are Moving Poleward 08.06.2026 42min

  Send us Fan Mail Scientists have discovered that marine species are migrating away from the equator at a rate of 40 to 70 kilometres per decade to get to cooler waters as climate change heats up our ocean. But far from being a viable escape plan, this mass poleward relocation of marine life is opening up a sea of problems. On this week's episode of Word on the Reef, hosts Tanya Murphy and Brett Goodban are joined by James Cook University's Professor Jan Strugnell for a deep dive into climate-...
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  S3 E15: Seafood Fishing and Aquarium Harvesting on the Great Barrier Reef: Are they Sustainable? 05.06.2026 46min

  Send us Fan Mail Every year up to 7,000 tons of seafood is caught on the Great Barrier Reef, while up to 190 tons of coral is collected for the international aquarium trade. But how sustainable are these fisheries? And as consumers, how can we make sure we're making Reef-friendly choices? In this episode of Word on the Reef, Simon Miller from the Australian Marine Conservation Society joins hosts Tanya Murphy and Brett Goodban for a deep dive into the world of commercial fishing on the Great...
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  S3 E14: Reef Fish Beneath our City: Restoring Cairns' Urban Waterways and Oyster Reefs with Phil Laycock 02.06.2026 43min

  Send us Fan Mail Did you know that some Great Barrier Reef fish species are spending part of their life cycle in the middle of our city? That's right, marine fish species could be as close as your nearest concrete storm water drain, swimming among abandoned shopping trolleys and discarded beer bottles. In fact, recent research has found more than 60 species of native fish in these waterways. On todays' episode of Word on the Reef, host Tanya Murphy is joined by Phil Laycock from OzFish Unlimi...
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  S3 E13: The First Scientists: How Indigenous Knowledge can Help Protect our Oceans 28.05.2026 1h 10min

  Send us Fan Mail 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 was not formally considered alongside Western Science. Now, more research and conservation organisations are recognising that in order to protect places like the Great Barrier Reef, not only do we need better technology and data, but we ...
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  S3 E12: Mud, Blood and Sea Turtles: Caitlin's Quest to Give Turtles a Future 20.05.2026 55min

  Send us Fan Mail 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 Smith is one of the scientists racing to unravel the threats facing our sea turtles before it’s too late. Her work has seen her fearlessly leaning out of helicopters to survey seagrass, slip-sliding across stinky mud bogs to rescue half-ton tur...
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  S3 E11: Project Manta: The Secret Lives of Gentle Giants 10.05.2026 1h 23min

  Send us Fan Mail 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 affectionate cat that she knew she had truly found her calling. Since then, Kathy has followed manta rays around the world, appeared in a documentary with Sir David Attenborough, and even been swept into a swirling manta-ray feeding vortex. She...
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  S3 E10: Dugong Wars: The Fight to Save Mermaids with Professor Helene Marsh 08.05.2026 48min

  Send us Fan Mail 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 known as the “Dugong Wars”. No torpedoes were fired, but the conflict between marine scientists, industry groups and governments was intense, as researchers like Professor Marsh fought to remove nets from critical dugong habitat. Today, dugongs ...
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  S3 E9: Meet Gary, the King of Nudibranchs (AKA the Ocean’s Craziest Sea Slugs) 19.04.2026 48min

  Send us Fan Mail 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 following of more than 60,000 people who are equally obsessed. But what even is a nudibranch—and why are thousands of people going nuts over them? Well, they dress like drag queens, some of them can fire miniature deadly spears out of their flubber...
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  S3 E8: UNESCO Sounds Alarm on the Great Barrier Reef + Cyclone Narelle’s Fallout 10.04.2026 49min

  Send us Fan Mail The UNESCO World Heritage Committee is concerned about the Great Barrier Reef - warning Australia to do more to protect it or risk an “In Danger” listing. So how serious is this threat, and are governments doing enough to respond? This week we're joined by marine ecologist Dr Lissa Schindler from the Australian Marine Conservation Society to unpack what’s behind UNESCO’s warnings - and what we need to do about it. Plus, we take a closer look at a summer of extremes: from cora...