''Great Barrier Reef'' is a three-part BBC documentary series. Narrated by

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...

, its three episodes aired over December 2015 and into January 2016. The series was released on DVD and Blu-ray in January 2016. The MV ''Alucia'' was used as a base for the series.Lanternfish to light up lens of Sir David Attenborough during Cairns visit
'' The Cairns Post'' 4 November 2014

Synopses

Episode 1: Builders

This episode explores the creatures that inhabit the Great Barrier Reef off the northeastern coast of Australia on board the research vessel MV ''Alucia''. Attenborough goes deep into the ocean on board ''Alucias Triton submersible. He pays a visit to

Lizard Island Lizard Island is an island on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland (Australia), northwest of Brisbane and part of the Lizard Island Group that also includes Palfrey Island. It is part of the Lizard Island National Park. Lizard Island is within ...

Episode 2: Visitors

Attenborough starts out on

Osprey Reef Osprey Reef is a submerged atoll in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Northwestern Group of the Coral Sea Islands. Osprey Reef is roughly oval in shape, measuring , and covers around . It has a perimeter of ...

. Hammerhead sharks pick up signals from the Earth's magnetic field. Some sharks travel to

Raine Island Raine Island is a vegetated coral cay in total area situated on the outer edges of the Great Barrier Reef off north-eastern Australia. It lies approximately north-northwest of Cairns in Queensland, about east-north-east of Cape Grenville on t ...

. Attenborough goes to a green turtle rookery on Raine Island.

Heron Island Heron Island may refer to: *Heron Island (Queensland), in Australia *Heron Island (New Brunswick), in Baie des Chaleurs, Canada * Heron Island (Quebec), in the Saint Lawrence River, Canada * Heron Island, Berkshire, on the River Thames, England * H ...

is to the south of Raine Island.

Manta ray Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' (formerly its own genus ''Manta''). The larger species, '' M. birostris'', reaches in width, while the smaller, '' M. alfredi'', reaches . Both have triangular Pectoral fin#AnchPect ...

s are the nomads of the Great Barrier Reef. Manta rays feed on the plankton. Many of these manta rays make their way to Lady Elliot Island.

Kathy Townsend Dr. Kathy Townsend is an academic marine biologist at the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. Early life Kathy Townsend was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She enrolled in the University of Calgary in 1990, before moving to Australi ...

has been tracking manta rays and studying them for the last seven years.

Episode 3: Survival

Cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

s are the biggest killers of the reef's corals. SS ''Yongala'' was sunk by a cyclone in 1911. Cyclone Yasi in 2011 ripped many corals and exposed the top of the sunken ''Yongala''. Another threat to corals are coral-eating starfishes known as

crown-of-thorns starfish The crown-of-thorns starfish (frequently abbreviated to COTS), ''Acanthaster planci'', is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns starfish receives its name from venomous thorn-like spine ...

es.

Animals featured

Episode 1

Attenborough discusses reef residents. *

coral polyp Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

s * clownfish *

sea anemone Sea anemones are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates of the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classifi ...

mantis shrimp Mantis shrimp, or stomatopods, are carnivorous marine crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda (). Stomatopods branched off from other members of the class Malacostraca around 340 million years ago. Mantis shrimp typically grow to around in lengt ...

with up to 16 photoreceptors

Episode 2

* tiger shark *

Green sea turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

* noddies * Wedge-tailed shearwater *

wrasse The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with over 600 species in 81 genera, which are divided into 9 subgroups or tribes. They are typically small, most of them le ...

, small fish * humpback whales * dwarf minke whale

Episode 3

* Epaulette shark *

Crown-of-thorns starfish The crown-of-thorns starfish (frequently abbreviated to COTS), ''Acanthaster planci'', is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns starfish receives its name from venomous thorn-like spine ...

Contributors

Experts who appeared in the series include: *

* Justin Marshall

References

External links

* * {{David Attenborough 2015 British television series debuts 2016 British television series endings David Attenborough Great Barrier Reef 2010s Australian documentary television series BBC high definition shows Documentary films about marine biology BBC television documentaries English-language television shows