21 December: The GBR at your fingertips

The legendary naturalist, Sir David Attenborough and the award-winning talents of Atlantic Productions have teamed up with world-renowned scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), and other institutions, to create an interactive website, “David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef: An Interactive Journey”. It’s a unique partnership that delivers an exciting new public engagement platform on the latest GBR science. Through rich graphics and inventive interactive technology, the user is offered a real-time journey with David Attenborough across the iconic UNESCO world heritage area.

Officially opened today, the website features AIMS’ National Sea Simulator, a one-of-a-kind, cutting-edge research facility, as well as a sample of the research of AIMS scientists, including Dr Madeleine van Oppen’s collaborative work on ‘Assisted Evolution’. The site also allows the user to actively instigate a crown-of-thorns outbreak on the GBR! Using real-world data from the AIMS GBR eAtlas platform users can, for example, change the water quality and view simulated population explosions across the Reef. AIMS proudly delivers this content though the “Understanding the Reef” section of the website.

The website is designed to accompany Attenborough’s new BBC TV series, entitled “David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef” planned for release in the UK on 30 December, and available to Australian audiences early next year. Follow the details of this release through the AIMS website homepage and social media content via Facebook and Twitter.