''Great Barrier Reef'' is a nature documentary series exploring the wildlife of the eponymous coral reef off

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's coast. It was presented by

Monty Halls Monty Halls (born 5 November 1966) is a British TV broadcaster and marine biologist best known for his BBC Great Escape series ''Monty Halls' Great Escape'', ''Monty Halls' Great Hebridean Escape'' and ''Monty Halls' Great Irish Escape'', dur ...

and co-produced by the

BBC Natural History Unit The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

and Digital Dimensions. The series was broadcast in three parts in the United Kingdom, where it premiered in January 2012 on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

and the

BBC HD BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...

channel. In the US it aired as a two-hour special on

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...

on 9 September 2012. ''Great Barrier Reef'' documents the ecosystem and marine life of the coral reef itself, along with the plants and animals on islands and the Australian mainland which owe their existence to the presence of the reef.

Episodes

1. "Nature's Miracle"

The first episode examines the structure of the coral reef and the wildlife which lives in it, as they compete and cooperate. The reef is also affected by numerous factors including the moon, sun, and weather.

2. "Reef to Rainforest"

With a landmass larger than

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, only 7% is coral reef. The rest is made of islands, mangrove swamps, and sand flats – all of which feature an array of animals. Even the 100 year old shipwreck of

SS Yongala SS ''Yongala'' was a passenger and cargo ship that sank off Cape Bowling Green, Queensland, Australia on 23 March 1911. En route from Melbourne to Cairns she steamed into a cyclone and sank south of Townsville. All 122 aboard died, and tr ...

plays a part.

3. "Reef and Beyond"

Alien creatures which are rarely seen rise out of the deep ocean waters to visit the warmer waters of the reef. Weather systems also play a part with cyclones posing a great danger to animals and the reef alike.

References

External links

* * BBC television documentaries BBC high definition shows Nature educational television series 2012 British television series debuts 2012 British television series endings 2010s British documentary television series Animal Planet original programming English-language television shows Great Barrier Reef Television series about fish {{BBC-tv-prog-stub