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Masters of the Reef Meet the Experts Bringing the Great Barrier Reef to Life · GowayPro Travel Tales

• 0:00
  Too often glow trotters literally sail over the Crate Barrier Reef or take a quick snorkel or dive above the coral without realizing the history, the fragility, the cultural impact
• 0:10
  the largest living organism on the globe has to offer.
• 0:13
  The Master Reef Guide Association, with 166 certified highly trained guides, lead interpretive tours into the finer points of one of the world's most amazing sites.
• 0:24
  Hear from one of the original Master Reef guides and world traveller, Crystal Lacey.
• 0:28
  As she brings new insights into one of the world's most popular destinations, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.
• 0:35
  Hey there everyone, I'm Don, Professor Goy, and welcome to the Goway Pro Trouble Tale Podcast.
• 0:49
  Far and gravel off.
• 0:53
  Hello, everyone.
• 0:54
  Welcome to the Go Way Pro Trouble Tales podcast series.
• 0:58
  Today we are talking about the largest living organism in the world and the largest coral reef in the world.
• 1:06
  Most people will know it by those two clues, and that's the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
• 1:12
  And with me to talk about it with some very, very in-depth knowledge, it's Crystal Lacey.
• 1:18
  Who is the Master Reef Guide Program Manager?
• 1:22
  And when we get into the conversation, I'll let Crystal expand on that name and the associations and who's involved with it.
• 1:28
  And also, and uh Crystal's coming to us from the Witch Sundays.
• 1:33
  Now, those who may not know the geography of the Barrier Reef, I'll let Crystal expand on this, but that is part of the Great Barrier Reef.
• 1:41
  and also coming to us, not from Australia, but from Sunny, Phoenix, Arizona, is Emma Eddington.
• 1:47
  And she is the trade and marketing coordinator for Tourism, Queensland and Events.
• 1:54
  Do I get that right?
• 1:55
  In the right order?
• 1:57
  Tourism and events, Queensland.
• 1:58
  Tourism and events, Queensland.
• 1:59
  There you go.
• 2:00
  Anyway, she represents Queensland.
• 2:01
  Um but we are going to talk about the barrier reef, which is one of the biggest attractions to someone going to Australia.
• 2:11
  now, if you want to hear some sort of stats and statistics about the program we're about to discuss, please check out the webinar that we've done.
• 2:19
  Um there's a really good deep focus on um on the Master Reef Guide program.
• 2:25
  We are going to go into it here obviously as well, but um if you want all the stats, that's where you can find it.
• 2:32
  so Crystal, can you please let our listening audience know geographically what the Great Barrier Reef is?
• 2:42
  Is it it uh is my opening statement of it being the largest living organism?
• 2:47
  Is that still a factual statement?
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  Where does it run from?
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  What does it entail?
• 2:54
  Absolutely.
• 2:55
  Thank you, Don.
• 2:56
  So, yes, my name is Crystal Lacey.
• 2:59
  I am the program manager of the Master RifGO program, which is um managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority in partnership with Tourism and Events Queensland, who
• 3:11
  Emma is here with, and uh the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators.
• 3:17
  so yes, you are very correct, Don.
• 3:19
  Uh the Great Barrier Reef is the largest.
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  Living organism on Earth.
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  You can see it from space.
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  It's that big.
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  It looks like a white line in the blue ocean from space.
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  it's 2300 kil kilometers long, uh, and which really sort of
• 3:42
  makes it around the size of Italy, if you can imagine Italy next to the side of uh the Queensland coast.
• 3:49
  The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is is that big.
• 3:53
  So trying to manage a marine park the size of Italy, or Victoria and Tasmania combined, um, is quite a feat.
• 4:01
  And that is that is what we endeavour to do every day.
• 4:05
  So just for American listeners, because I know you want to know, twenty three hundred kilometers equates to roughly fourteen uh one thousand four hundred and thirteen miles um
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  in length.
• 4:15
  Now, most people um who haven't been there will automatically think of the Grey Great Barrier Reef running from sort of northern Queensland near the tip, if not the tip, to
• 4:27
  around about Cairns, a little bit further south of Cairns, but it runs
• 4:30
  much further than that, it runs down into the Wit Sundays.
• 4:33
  If I'm not mistaken, if not just to the north of Brisbane, north of the Sunshine Coast is where it sort of peters out.
• 4:39
  Is that right?
• 4:41
  Correct, yes.
• 4:41
  You may have heard of a beautiful little island right down the very southern of the Great Barrier Reef called Lady Elliott Island.
• 4:49
  so Lady Elliott Island is the last island um within our Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, the last reef um within our Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
• 4:59
  Um and you're right, it is a little bit further north of uh Brisbane um and it heads all the way up to the very tip of of Queensland.
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  Um so it is a very large area.
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  uh And Witsundays, the Witsunday Islands where I'm located, is right smack bang in the middle of it.
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  And we have a beautiful little reef.
• 5:20
  Only about the size of two small cars, but it is in the perfect shape of a heart that you can actually see from the air.
• 5:28
  So that is why we really talk to that the Wit Sundays is the heart of the Great Barrier Reef, because we really do have the heart.
• 5:35
  Yeah, fair enough.
• 5:36
  So it's inter so it's w worth knowing to our travel partners out there too that you don't necessarily have to go to Cannes to experience the Great Barrier Reef.
• 5:44
  That's probably its first famous gateway.
• 5:48
  as Crystal's saying, you know, Lubitz Sundays is a group of islands, Hamilton Island.
• 5:53
  is or what was Fraser Island, Kigari, is that within the Barrier Reef?
• 5:58
  Fraser Island?
• 6:00
  No, it's just out of the Great Barrier Reef.
• 6:02
  So yeah, Lady Elliott Island is is our last our last island within that Great Barrier Marine Park catchment.
• 6:10
  But you're right, Don.
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  There is so many different places that you can access um and see the gorgeous Great Barrier Reef.
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  And because it is so large and there's so many different reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef, everywhere you go has its own unique um offerings, different animals,
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  different types of coral that you can see throughout the
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  uh whole length and breadth of the reef.
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  So of course you can fly into Cairns, head out to beautiful Cairns to the islands and out to the outer Great Barrier Reef from Cairns and even get to the very north, um far north
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  of uh the Great Barrier Reef from some liveaboard vessels um out of Cairns.
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  Just north of Cairns is Cape Tribulation, um which is where two World Heritage areas collide.
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  The only place on earth where two World Heritage areas meet.
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  but if we s keep heading down, we do get to the Wits Sundays.
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  Between the Wits Sundays though and Cairns, there is other areas along the way, small little villages, small little places where you can still access the reef.
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  Wits Sundays I would say is the second the second most iconic area as well.
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  So Cairns and Wit Sundays is what everyone always talks about.
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  Um obviously the Wit Sundays has the seventy-four islands that you can access.
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  there is island accommodation.
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  We have the Great Barrier Reef right on our doorstep there.
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  So you can have um snorkeling and scuba diving and the famous, world famous White Haven Beach, just uh off Hamilton Island, the next island over which is Wick Sunday Island, the
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  largest island in our Whit Sunday Islands group.
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  uh right there as well and then if you keep in a little bit further south um you will start to see a few of our other iconic islands.
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  We've mentioned Lady Elliott Island.
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  There's also an island called Heron Island, uh Lady Musgrave, which also has a pontoon.
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  So that's a floating platform you can head out to on day trips and overnight experiences.
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  And then a lot of smaller areas as well.
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  So there's a place called 1770 or Agnes Waters.
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  Um they have a dive dive operation there, um Dive Spirit Sport seventeen seventy.
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  There's lots of different places along the entire coastline um within that Great Barrier Reef catchment that you can see the Great Barrier Reef and and everything that the
• 8:24
  underwater world has to offer.
• 8:26
  Okay, so you mentioned in our webinar a certain percentage of the wreath that's visited.
• 8:32
  So let's before I give that number, just just remember it's as long as Italy, twenty three hundred kilometers, fourteen hundred miles thereabouts.
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  And you said about seven percent is visited, is that correct?
• 8:44
  Yes, so this is a a real mind-blowing piece for you.
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  Are you ready?
• 8:52
  So the Great Barrier Reef is a World Heritage Listed area.
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  And the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, what makes up that entire Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is not just coral reef.
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  There's mangroves, there's islands, there's coral caves.
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  So the actual coral that makes up the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is only seven percent of the entire park.
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  Then of all the tourism operators that access the Great Barrier Reef and show the world the coral, they only see seven percent of that.
• 9:29
  And so seven percent of seven percent, you're really only showing the world half percent of what the Great Barrier Reef has to offer.
• 9:36
  That blows my mind with how much we showcase and talk about the Great Barrier Reef to the world compared to the actual enormity size of what is out there that is untouched, unseen,
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  uncharted, not fully researched.
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  so there is so much to the Great Barrier Reef that that is still very much um undiscovered, which is very exciting.
• 10:02
  Okay, so let me ask you a couple of questions here.
• 10:04
  So historically, for those who may or may not know, Captain Cook um did not discover Australia.
• 10:13
  He claimed it for Britain.
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  Um and he landed at Botany Bay and that's where he said you know, it's a good harbour, etcetera, which didn't prove to be true, ended up being Sydney Harbour, which he didn't
• 10:24
  call into.
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  He just sailed by it and said, that looks pretty cool, made a note on his charts.
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  Then he continued north along the east coast of Australia and he got himself into the middle of the Great Barrier Reef and actually cracked into it and cracked a hole in his
• 10:41
  boat and went ashore at what is now called Cooktown.
• 10:44
  So Emma, where is Cooktown in relation to Cannes?
• 10:48
  This is where my geography is not very good.
• 10:50
  Is it north of Cannes, south of Cairns, do you know?
• 10:56
  North of Kent.
• 10:58
  North of Kent, I think.
• 10:59
  Yeah.
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  Three hundred ish kilometers.
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  So yeah.
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  Okay, there we go.
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  So north of Cannes.
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  And he actually spent more time in Cooktown.
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  I think he only spent about two or three days in Botany Bay.
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  and that was the first confrontation.
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  It was a confrontation with the indigenous population.
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  But I think he spent about six weeks in Cooktown.
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  So he spent more time in Queensland, or what became Queensland, than he did in Botany Bay.
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  So that's just a bit of historical statistics for you.
• 11:23
  But what I'm leading to here, uh, Crystal, is with the reef being a national or marine national park.
• 11:32
  From a boating point of view, and I'm not talking I'm I'm not talking pleasure boats or recreational boats that you know run people out for dives and stuff, is any commercial
• 11:41
  shipping to the like seaward side?
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  Like nothing goes through between the coast of Australia and the barrier reef because there's a inner reef and an outer reef, is that correct?
• 11:53
  First of all.
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  Okay.
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  So any commercial shipping
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  is way out to sea, so it's nowhere near the reef for one the ship safety into potential environmental damage.
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  So the reef is well protected in that respect.
• 12:08
  Is that right?
• 12:10
  Yeah, look, the Great Barrier Reef is the most heavily managed marine park in the world.
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  Um and so there is many regulations that anyone who wants to transit through the uh the marine park have to adhere to.
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  There is definitely larger vessels that do transit through our marine park.
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  there is very strict areas where they are allowed and not allowed to obviously go and that
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  um has many different reasons as to why.
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  Obviously wildlife, um, shallow reefs, um, islands, things like that.
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  our cruise ships, for example, obviously they're coming in a lot closer than um other big tankers, massive ships.
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  They'll head out a lot further, a lot wider.
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  um then the cruise ships will they'll come in closer because they obviously want to get their guests off to a few of the islands and a few of the mainland locations like Cans and
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  with Sundays and a few other areas along the the marine park.
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  Um but I think the main thing to to remember there is
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  The Marine Park, the Great Barrier Marine Park is the most heavily managed and maintained and protected reef um in the world.
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  And so any vessel, uh no matter what its size, has lots and lots of regulations and things they need to tick and make sure that they are adhering to if they are entering within the
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  marine park area.
• 13:38
  so on that point you me you mentioned cruise ships, as we do have a lot of cruise agents out there and I'm I'm not a cruiser per se.
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  Are there big cruise ports along the Queensland coasts that serve us, for one of a better term, the Barrier Reef?
• 13:50
  Now you mention cruise ships pulling up and letting their clients off.
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  Is that in a port of call or is that them anchoring off the reef and letting them come a sh visit the reef?
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  How does that work, I guess, on the bigger cruise ship situations?
• 14:04
  Yeah, definitely.
• 14:04
  So there is many cre many different cruise lines that come through the Great Barrier Reef.
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  Um and they'll either get in on on the bigger ports further down um the coast of Australia, whether it's Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne.
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  Some of them may even come from overseas.
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  but mainly Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne, they'll they'll embark on the ship and head up the coast.
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  there is a couple of stops along the way.
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  Um the most iconic ones as we've spoken about already is the Whit Sundays.
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  um and cairns.
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  Um cairns they actually come into port, whereas the Witch Sundays there is special areas um which those larger vessels are allowed to anchor um out in off the reef, out in the
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  open open ocean, where then our tour vessels of that location will come, access the re the the the vessel, access the cruise ship and um transfer guests on and off, take them out on
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  tours for the day or over to the mainland um so they can see either
• 15:04
  Airly Beach, which is um the main the main town of the Whit Sundays or the islands of the Whit Sundays, head out to the reef for the day, out to the iconic Whitehaven Beach, which
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  is one of the top ten um beaches in the world.
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  Um so it really depends on which uh cruise line you're looking at, um depending on what their passage plan or their their trip um will be.
• 15:27
  But yes, they'll they'll usually stop at the Whitsundays and they'll usually stop at Cairns um and they'll transit through a diff a few different other areas that are iconic
• 15:36
  um throughout the throughout the Great Barrier Reef, starting and finishing um either in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne, which would be your most popular ones.
• 15:46
  Okay.
• 15:47
  Now you mentioned in the webinar, um, again in your acknowledgement of the original owners, um, and throughout your presentation, both you and Emma mentioned the indigenous
• 15:58
  population by land people or sea people.
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  Now a of what a lot of people may not know is the Aboriginal population, pre col uh colonialisation was from the shores to the heart of Australia.
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  And most people would think of of the Aboriginal as the outback peoples, like in the heart of Australia.
• 16:16
  But
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  You know, we uh in Sydney, uh it's the Gadigal people I believe, and they're sort of known as um as the seawater uh seawater people 'cause they lived on the coast.
• 16:27
  Now the reason I bring all that up is one 'cause the importance of what we're about to discuss, the importance of it to Australia, but reading your history, Crystal, you seem to
• 16:35
  be a person of the sea.
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  Was the first time you were there.
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  And then you got your dive instructor's license
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  By the age of seventeen.
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  So you were obviously struck, pardon the pun, and impressed by water in general, the reef in particular.
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  So did it hit you that hard that literally seeing it two years later you're a dive instructor?
• 17:02
  Absolutely.
• 17:03
  I um I grew up in a a little country town west of Toowoomba, which is west of Brisbane, so right in the central area of Queensland, and that little country town's called
• 17:16
  Moringandan.
• 17:19
  that's a hard one to get your tongue around.
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  But out there when I was growing up, you didn't really hear much about the ocean apart from there's beaches.
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  and it was all about when you grow up you're going to be a doctor or a nurse or um a vet or a farmer, you know, all of those really um important roles.
• 17:44
  I n we never heard anything about being a vessel master or that you could even work on a boat, that boats even did work out on the out on the water.
• 17:53
  We didn't know
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  Um and so yes, I I actually did a cruise um with my family when I was um fifteen and
• 18:04
  went up to the Wit Sundays was one of the stops and we got out on a tour and um I did my very first ever scuba dive and I remember coming up from that dive and I just said what is
• 18:15
  what?
• 18:15
  I didn't even know there was stuff under the surface of the water.
• 18:18
  This is amazing.
• 18:19
  There's like an alien world right at our doorstep.
• 18:22
  Yep.
• 18:23
  Um and so I just said to my mum, This is what I want to do.
• 18:26
  And as soon as I finished school I packed my stuff, got in my car, came to the Wit Sundays
• 18:31
  Uh, got myself a a traineeship, learnt how to dive, um, and yes, I became um at that point, um one of the world's lung youngest SSI dive instructors um at the time, um, which
• 18:46
  was really cool and
• 18:48
  And I was hooked.
• 18:49
  I just thought this was the most magical way to live my life and live out a dream, but also be able to give back to the people that I got to experience it with every single day.
• 19:03
  it was it's it fills your cup every day and and it also
• 19:10
  brings a a a light into people's eyes that they may never have experienced something so magical in their life and it's a really cool thing to be able to um be the be the person
• 19:21
  that can give that gift to somebody.
• 19:24
  I I agree 'cause people who've listened to my podcast enough now know that I used to be a a tour guide as well.
• 19:29
  And that was one the highlights to me is um you were the I don't know
• 19:36
  You were the gateway for their experiences 'cause, you know, you you you represented either the country, the experience, what the moment, you know, because they turned to you
• 19:45
  because you have some experience with it.
• 19:47
  And you could see through their eyes the excitement of what was new to them, which kept it at least from speaking personally, kept it new to me, kept it exciting as well.
• 19:56
  Um, and I always walked away thinking you know, a a tour guide of any description has a huge impact on someone when they're traveling because a good guide will make
• 20:06
  the experience truly memorable.
• 20:08
  A bad guide will make it something you want to forget, which is a shame.
• 20:12
  Um but obviously from your story, yeah, it it hit you at the age of fifteen.
• 20:17
  So once you got your diving license, so what'd you become a dive master, I guess?
• 20:25
  dive instructor.
• 20:26
  Yes.
• 20:26
  So that's that gives you the ability to take people who have never been diving in their life, they may not even know how to swim, may never have ever been in the ocean, um, to
• 20:37
  take them out on a scuba dive and and let them experience what it's like to breathe underwater.
• 20:44
  So did your was your career up into what we're going to talk about now?
• 20:49
  Was it being a dive instructor for the average punter who was coming into the With Sundays or into the barrier reef?
• 20:56
  That's what you did until such a time as what?
• 21:00
  What got you into being a master reef guide?
• 21:07
  Did that
• 21:08
  Did you invent it?
• 21:09
  Did it was it something that was presented to you?
• 21:12
  How did you come across what we're gonna discuss now?
• 21:16
  Yeah, so when I first became a dive instructor, that was my dream.
• 21:22
  Um and I worked as a dive instructor for for quite a while and travelled as well.
• 21:27
  Um I worked as a dive instructor in Fiji.
• 21:30
  We worked over in um Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia as dive instructors.
• 21:35
  Nice.
• 21:36
  Um and down in South Australia as well.
• 21:38
  I have a a very much a love for um all marine life, but I think sharks is is one of my favorites.
• 21:45
  So I we
• 21:45
  We also did a bit of work with um tagging and researching um a few different types of sharks.
• 21:52
  So whale sharks, hammerheads, tiger sharks in Western Australia, Great White Sharks in South Australia, but also got to travel the world and a few different iconic areas of the
• 22:01
  world, um working as a dive instructor, Thailand, Fiji and a few other places.
• 22:06
  But the Great Barrier Reef was always putting
• 22:10
  Did you have to buy a dry suit for South Australia?
• 22:12
  The waters must have been a bit colder down there.
• 22:14
  It was cold.
• 22:16
  Definitely.
• 22:18
  there's probably an inappropriate story to tell there, so I will save that.
• 22:24
  But yes, you definitely need a try a dry suit down in South Australia.
• 22:29
  Um it definitely gets cold down there.
• 22:31
  Um but yeah, the Great Barrier Reef was it always had a a massive piece in my heart and always drew me back.
• 22:37
  So
• 22:38
  I always kept coming back to the Wit Sundays.
• 22:40
  There was a company that I one of the biggest tourism companies on the Great Barrier Reef that I worked for there for gosh, I think around fifteen years.
• 22:50
  and I worked up through the ranks through that company, uh managed their um Great Barrier Reef product for a long time and through that really championed our citizen science.
• 23:04
  which talks to our site stewardship.
• 23:06
  So wanting to know more about our patch, making sure we had data and knowledge and understanding of what's happening out on the reef of where we're taking our guests every
• 23:16
  single day.
• 23:17
  Developed our interpretation and education content material for that that particular product and then the broader of the the whole company uh worked up through to to ma senior
• 23:30
  management there in guest experience in operations.
• 23:35
  and within all that that's when this Master Reef Guide program very first came came about and that was uh initiated from an audit that was done uh of the tourism industry and and
• 23:49
  one of the things that fell out from that audit was we wanted to make sure that we were across the entire Great Barrier Reef, giving the correct information, updated knowledge to
• 24:00
  all guests globally so that the world knew.
• 24:03
  um exactly, you know, the state of the reef, the health of the reef, the amazing animals that came to the reef, the different times of the year.
• 24:09
  There's iconic things happening on different places throughout the reef.
• 24:13
  and that's when this Master Reef Guide program was born.
• 24:16
  And I was lucky enough to be selected on the very first cohort um of that program.
• 24:22
  And so started as as the the in the inaugural program of Master Reef Guides and not long after finishing
• 24:32
  that cohort, I think a year or so later I had my first my first baba.
• 24:37
  Um and that saying of one door closes, another one opens, I don't think I could have really felt that more than I did in that moment becoming a mum.
• 24:47
  I just felt this door closing of you can't go to the reef every day now.
• 24:51
  you need to redefine yourself as a as a person, obviously figure out
• 24:57
  motherhood, what that means, how to navigate that, but also um keep your passion and your dreams.
• 25:03
  Um and obviously as a as a parent you want to champion that and and be a really great role model for your kids.
• 25:10
  So I um I started a my own business as a consultant.
• 25:15
  I was a tourism development consultant um and worked with a lot of the tourism industry up and down the coast, especially in that frontline guest experience um management
• 25:25
  perspective, how do you
• 25:27
  How do you deliver an exceptional guest experience and what does that mean?
• 25:30
  Um and and diving into the depths of that and how you can do that um uniquely for each one of your tourism products and experiences.
• 25:39
  So I did that for a a a little while.
• 25:42
  Um and as the Master Roof Guide off to the side as it was growing, um, I started working as a contractor to help manage the program and jump to today.
• 25:53
  I full time managed the program.
• 25:57
  we reached three hundred million people globally.
• 25:59
  We've now got a hundred and sixty six master roof guides.
• 26:02
  We're about to conduct cohort ten um and we're gearing up for our ten year anniversary in twenty twenty eight.
• 26:09
  of the programme.
• 26:10
  We've even had David Addenborough write us a handwritten letter so he knows who the Master Reef guides are.
• 26:15
  So um yeah, we're a globally known world leading guiding um program that delivers um unforgettable immersive educational experiences to to everyone who can access the reef and
• 26:30
  for those who even can't through our social media channels as well.
• 26:34
  Okay.
• 26:34
  Now and l a lot of that information is in our webinar, so I highly recommend you go and check that out.
• 26:40
  so just on that, just taking a couple of steps back in your career, so you were bouncing all over the world very exotically too, all the beautiful spots around the world.
• 26:49
  Um and you mentioned the tagging and the science work down in South Australia and probably elsewhere as well.
• 26:55
  Can I ask you what might be a somewhat of a personal question throughout cause you said when you basically finished high school you headed out to the reef to become a
• 27:04
  Dive instructor.
• 27:05
  Um and obviously as we delve a little bit deeper into the um Master Reef Guide program, it's obviously very science-based and protection based.
• 27:13
  So you're doing studies and there are a lot of communal um avenues that people can take part in, which goes back to your social media and the apps you have where
• 27:23
  you know, the average traveller can spot wildlife and call it in, so to speak.
• 27:27
  Did you do any formal education or is all your knowledge just gained through your life experience of diving and and and basically learning on the road?
• 27:37
  Yeah, that's exactly it.
• 27:38
  I um I I personally didn't go to uni.
• 27:41
  Um I didn't become a marine biologist.
• 27:44
  There is many of our Master Reef guides who are marine biologists and PhDs and doctors in in lots of different areas, um, which is a really cool element to the Master Reef Guide
• 27:55
  program, is we bring knowledge and experience from all different levels.
• 27:58
  We've got business owners um and that have that knowledge as well, from how to manage a tourism business to um sales marketing to
• 28:07
  to frontline to vessel masters to um PhD students that are currently um doing their honours in a particular a particular species um it it goes on and on and on but yeah for
• 28:20
  me particularly I never went to to uni everything was learnt um being out there experiencing it doing it connecting with the wildlife um and
• 28:32
  For me there was there was so much I could learn for a book from a book, but to actually be a part of it um and experience it gave me knowledge and um and connection that the
• 28:46
  words can't even can't even describe.
• 28:49
  It's it's a phenomenal thing.
• 28:50
  And then to be able to to give that joy back to somebody and let them experience
• 28:59
  and have that connection that that I get to have or that I feel with the Great Barrier Reef is is extremely special.
• 29:07
  I agree.
• 29:07
  I think there's nothing well.
• 29:11
  I'm a big proponent of of of life experience in partnership, if possible, with you know with a formal education.
• 29:19
  We were discussing before we came on air, families and kids, and I have three young boys.
• 29:23
  And we have we've had them travel with us a lot because we my wife and I believe that that life experience, that life exposure to whatever it may be, cultures, marim, biology in
• 29:34
  your case, in hand with some book learning is a perfect combination.
• 29:38
  But I think
• 29:40
  They're both equally as valuable in the right situation.
• 29:43
  And obviously in your world that's it's done well because you're now running the program.
• 29:47
  Like, you know, what more can you say?
• 29:50
  so if I were to summer no going off the
• 29:54
  John.
• 29:54
  And I think that's a it's a really good point that you've that you've highlighted there.
• 30:00
  And I think that's something really critical of the the Master Reef Guide program itself is the fact that we do have so many different um specialized people who are Master Reef
• 30:10
  guides that bring as a collective all of their unique value and knowledge to the program to then give that off to other Master Reef guides.
• 30:19
  But not only that, we also then endeavour to continue to bring
• 30:24
  bring world leading experts of all their fields to come and mentor our Master Reef guides.
• 30:29
  So whether you are a marine biologist, you only learn so much at uni, but you you know, you obviously got to continue to grow and continue to to learn and research and science is
• 30:39
  new every five minutes and we're always finding something new out and there is, you know, a new discovery.
• 30:45
  So it's a very dynamic and ever changing world, the the world of
• 30:51
  of the Great Barrier Reef and all reefs globally in the ocean.
• 30:54
  And um I think that's a a magic a magic component of the Master Reef Guide program is we have the ability to keep that updated knowledge flowing through coming direct to our
• 31:04
  Master Reef Guide.
• 31:05
  So they're always learning, they're always um yeah get gathering more and more knowledge and understanding.
• 31:11
  And there is this saying of the more you know, the less you realise you do know.
• 31:17
  Yeah.
• 31:18
  Um so yeah it's it's it's quite
• 31:21
  It's quite fun for us all to sometimes sit and ponder on on big questions and having world leading experts in the room with us to to talk to us about whatever that topic may be.
• 31:33
  Yeah, for sure.
• 31:34
  And I think something you mentioned in a bit more depth in your webinar about it is the fact that you have uh you have First Nations indigenous Aboriginal whatever terminology
• 31:44
  you want to use, who are also part of your master guiding um master reef, sorry, guide program who not only bring modern knowledge, so to speak, the science with it, but they
• 31:55
  bring the ancient uh knowledge and histories that go with it.
• 32:01
  Which as we've discussed is um becoming more and more important as part of you know o of a modern Australia and a modern understanding of not just the obvious but you know the
• 32:12
  spiritual, I guess, for want of a a better term.
• 32:15
  So those three elements, like you've got life experience, you've got formal education, then you have the indigenous histories and knowledge behind it.
• 32:24
  To me, as an ex-guy, it would make a wonderful guide with all those three elements together.
• 32:32
  Yes, absolutely.
• 32:33
  And you're spot on there, Don.
• 32:36
  That is um a key pillar of the program is making sure that we are always led by our traditional owners of the land, scene, sky country that we are on wherever we are um
• 32:49
  within our Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
• 32:52
  They're always present, they're we're always there learning from their cultural knowledge.
• 32:57
  They're the the Aboriginal and Forest Strait Islanders are the oldest living culture on earth.
• 33:05
  so just that along
• 33:06
  alone they've been around um Australia throughout the Great Barrier Reef especially for more than sixty thousand years.
• 33:14
  and there's recent again, recent research and recent science coming up to show that it it's potentially up to ninety thousand years um that they've um been around.
• 33:25
  So they know stuff.
• 33:27
  Um they're very much connected to this land, sea and sky and they have seen ice ages, they've been through
• 33:35
  you know, Great Barrier Reefs.
• 33:37
  We're on we're technically on the fifth Great Barrier Reef.
• 33:41
  because we've been through ice ages where the the reef has risen and then the s the ice has risen and the reef has died and then the water has dropped and we've created a new
• 33:50
  reef and and our traditional owners have have witnessed that and they've got their stories to tell what's happened um throughout
• 34:00
  you know, the world's evolution, um, especially of of the Great Barrier Reef.
• 34:05
  And so to be able to have um those knowledge holders and the custodians, the first custodians of of the Great Barrier Reef and and the surrounding islands and lands and and
• 34:17
  sea and sky country to be able to share that knowledge with our traditional with our um master reef guides to then partner that with current um
• 34:28
  you know, modern day science to then mix that together and turn that into story um to touch the the souls of the people that we get to experience the reef with.
• 34:40
  It's something like no other.
• 34:42
  Um and but to be able to have our traditional owners who we have traditional owner master reef guides be able to do get very
• 34:51
  deep and connected with our guides on a on a whole other level, uh especially at field schools or or master classes.
• 34:58
  Um yeah, it's a it's an extremely special part of the program that we are so thankful to be able to um to be able to deliver to our to our Master of Guides.
• 35:10
  Let me ask you or let me position this way, s sort of dumb it down.
• 35:17
  so the Master Reef Guide, is this again, in in in simple terms.
• 35:23
  Is this a guide school where you educate people to guide on the reef and then in turn your master reef guides are then subcontracted out to local partners?
• 35:35
  Or are you a unit unto yourself that when I as a tourist come down to the Wit Sundays go to you, Master Reef Guides, to take me on a tour, or do I go to a local operator who
• 35:46
  employs Master Reef Guides?
• 35:48
  How does it work so our travel agents out there get an idea of
• 35:53
  Yeah, how it works basically.
• 35:54
  Yeah.
• 35:54
  Great question.
• 35:56
  So, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, who govern the protection and conservation um of the entire Great Barrier Reef, anyone who operates um or works within
• 36:08
  that marine park has to have permits to be able to do that.
• 36:11
  So we've got around three thousand two hundred permittees that access the park.
• 36:15
  Out of those three thousand two hundred permittees, there's about seventy five of them that the Reef Authority consider to operate at the highest possible standard in terms
• 36:24
  terms of sustainability, education, going above and beyond, giving back to the reef, learning about the Great Barrier Reef, site stewardship, um and they are all they all have
• 36:38
  to have their own uh certification through EarthCheck or Ecotourism Australia um for that sustainability piece.
• 36:47
  Then they'll come to the reef authority and say hey we've we've sustained um
• 36:54
  our sustainability, here's our qualifications for it, and then us internally will go through quite a a rigorous
• 37:02
  process to to a assess them.
• 37:05
  Um and if we see that they are ticking all the boxes of what we're looking for in protection and management of of their patch of the reef, then they become um a high
• 37:16
  standard tourism operator.
• 37:18
  So only high standard tourism operators can then nominate their crew to take part in the Master Reef Guide program.
• 37:28
  Um and so those staff
• 37:32
  will have to go through a selection criteria.
• 37:37
  There's lots of pre training they need to meet, be able to be assessed on and pass.
• 37:41
  There's a video they need to submit.
• 37:44
  there's quite a big criteria that they need to meet meet to get through to the um assessment panel.
• 37:51
  And if they are successful then in a cohort selection we'll take them somewhere on the Great Barriere Reef for a week and give them a very intensive training field school where
• 38:01
  we
• 38:03
  again bring our traditional owners, we have the traditional owner aspect.
• 38:07
  We have our marine protection element to it, our guiding and interpretation element.
• 38:12
  We bring world leading mentors as well along to those cohorts to really give that in-depth knowledge and experience.
• 38:21
  We have a week with them, send them back to their operation, and the idea for that is then they become mentors within their operation to then mentor the rest of their staff, give
• 38:32
  them knowledge
• 38:36
  show the passion and the dedication and the why you are doing what you're doing, why this is so significant, why this is so important, highlighting what it means and the depth
• 38:46
  behind talking about what this means as a World Heritage Area.
• 38:51
  So they're World Heritage Guides essentially.
• 38:54
  um The Great Barrier Reef, World Heritage Area, it um ticks all four boxes of the natural crit four natural criteria.
• 39:02
  And so what does that mean?
• 39:03
  How can you bring those stories of the natural criteria
• 39:06
  um of world heritage into your everyday um interpretation and education.
• 39:12
  um
• 39:13
  through those outstanding universal values, as we mentioned earlier.
• 39:16
  There's nowhere else on planet Earth like the Great Barrier Reef, but there's also, as much as we know, nowhere else in the entire universe like the Great Barrier Reef.
• 39:24
  So our Master Reef guide them become mentors within their companies to uplift that guest experience across all their tours, products, and experiences.
• 39:35
  So how would somebody find a Master Reef guide?
• 39:39
  They would head to our website um which is the Great
• 39:43
  Barrier Reef Marine Park Authorities website, just type in Master Reef Guides into your Google search.
• 39:49
  It'll be the first thing that comes up um and it'll say where to find a master reef guide and we'll section it off into different areas of the Great Barrier Reef.
• 39:58
  So the northern area, which is the Cannes region, especially.
• 40:01
  It'll tell you and list all the high standard tourism operators that have master reef guides working for them.
• 40:07
  Same with with Sundays, the Southern Great Barrier Reef.
• 40:10
  um We have master reef guides spread across
• 40:13
  the whole park.
• 40:15
  So that's really the easiest way for guests to to say, oh, I would love to go to the reef.
• 40:20
  I want to see it with the Master Reef Guide.
• 40:22
  How do I do that?
• 40:23
  Type into Google Master Reef Guide.
• 40:26
  Click on the very first web page.
• 40:28
  It will tell you where to find a Master Reef Guide and you'll see all the operators throughout the reef that have those master reef guides.
• 40:36
  And so when we're talking to the world um about coming to visit the Great Barrier Reef, that's really the funnel that we're looking for is
• 40:43
  If you're wanting to come and experience the Great Barrier Reef, see it with a high standard tourism operator who have these master reef guides that will be on board to give
• 40:51
  you these exceptional once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
• 40:55
  Okay.
• 40:55
  So for our travel partners out there,
• 40:58
  When you are looking to book your Queensland trip, particularly the Barrier Reef or the Barrier Reef, um, if you or your if you want to suggest this to your clients or your
• 41:06
  clients have done their research and they've learnt about the master reef guides, um, tell our destination specialists and we will ensure that the uh barrier reef tours that are
• 41:16
  included in the itinerary will include a company that um has a master reef guide or more um on their staff so they can take advantage of that.
• 41:27
  On that point,
• 41:28
  So is this where only due to your selection process, which almost sounds like special forces, it'll be very, very good to get there.
• 41:37
  will only Will an operator only have one master reef guide or could there be two or three in one particular operator?
• 41:45
  Is there um like
• 41:48
  Is I I know you mentioned that the operator themselves have to meet a high standard first before they can even put forward their staff.
• 41:56
  So I guess what I'm asking is how widespread are Master Reef guides?
• 42:01
  You said a hundred and sixty six, which is not a lot.
• 42:03
  Three hundred kilometers of barrier reef, yeah.
• 42:07
  Correct.
• 42:07
  So yes, you're right.
• 42:09
  There is
• 42:11
  I guess the the main thing to highlight here is that with our high standard tourism operators, no business is the same.
• 42:19
  They're all very unique.
• 42:20
  Some are quite large, we'll have, you know, four or five, six vessels, pon a pontoon, um, and some are very small family owned owned businesses.
• 42:29
  So some are islands, um, so there is quite a variety, um, even just by talking about the operators themselves.
• 42:38
  So then when it comes to the Master Reef guides, depending on the size of that company.
• 42:42
  Will depend on how many people those operators are able to put forward to nominate to even become a Master Reef guide.
• 42:49
  So some of our larger operations will have uh more Master Reef guides than our smaller operations.
• 42:56
  uh And that really is just from the nature of the operation itself: what they can do, what they can't, what they're unable to do.
• 43:03
  But something that we endeavor to do as the as the program management is when our nominations come in, and even before.
• 43:11
  The nominations.
• 43:12
  We speak to all of our operators.
• 43:13
  We're always in contact with them all.
• 43:15
  um We give training to all the staff, even before they even nominate to become a master reef guide.
• 43:21
  We do online training and in region training um for all of the staff to uplift everybody to get them ready for if you did want to nominate to become a master reef guide.
• 43:32
  You've got all the tools in the kit ready to go if you wanted to take that next step to become a master reef guide.
• 43:39
  So we truly try to keep it as open to
• 43:41
  transparent and um as as fair and as many opportunities as possible for the entire tourism industry.
• 43:48
  Um and then when we get to that nomination process, then of course to become a master reef guide, you've got to make sure that you meet a certain standard and um uphold that
• 43:57
  standard um professional um standard as well.
• 44:01
  So yeah, across the reef,
• 44:05
  The highest numbers of master reef guides.
• 44:08
  Obviously we have a huge number of operators in Cairns, so that's where a lot of our Master Reef Guides are.
• 44:14
  Again in the wet sundays, there's a big collective big collective of Master Reef guides because that's where a huge collection of operators are.
• 44:21
  Um and then in our smaller areas, so in the southern Great Barrier Reef, we've got um seven high standard tourism operators down there.
• 44:28
  Every one of those have master reef guides.
• 44:31
  and there's a few other sprinkled high standard tourism operators throughout the rest of the
• 44:35
  the marine park all the way up to Cape Tribulation where we have um the amazing ocean safari who also have master reef guides.
• 44:43
  So yes there is a spread even though there doesn't sound like there's a big number of them we ensure that um on almost every single one of our high standard tourism operators um we
• 44:53
  do have at least one if not more master reef guides um within those businesses and if then there isn't an operator that currently has a master reef guide we do give that additional
• 45:05
  training and um opportunity of uplifting all of their staff to the to this standard of if you wanted to become a master reef guide, there's all the tools ready to go in the kit so
• 45:15
  that you have the ability to to nominate um for an upcoming cohort.
• 45:20
  Um might might be a dumb question.
• 45:24
  Are all your master brief guides divers?
• 45:28
  No, they're not all scuba divers.
• 45:31
  some of them are.
• 45:32
  And a lot m it's not such a dumb question.
• 45:35
  Um majority of them are but we've got pilots, we've got vessel masters, we've got obviously business owners, scuba divers, of everyone's a snorkeler.
• 45:49
  But there is and I think that's because again, when we lean back on the types of operations, not every operator does scuba diving.
• 45:57
  Um so you don't have to have scuba divers that work for you.
• 46:01
  Um so it really depends on what the operation is is um offering to the guests.
• 46:06
  So if they are offering scuba diving then and then that particular diver nominates to become a master reef guide, yes, of course, they'll be a a a diver.
• 46:16
  But it's it's a really cool spread, yeah, from pilots, people up
• 46:24
  Okay.
• 46:25
  So I think you mentioned either in the webinar or you might have s said it here in the podcast that it's your tenth anniversary next year, twenty seven.
• 46:32
  Um and you mentioned the cohorts.
• 46:34
  I is it is it a cohort a year?
• 46:36
  Is that what you have done to date?
• 46:39
  Yeah, so in initially we were doing uh we tried to do a couple of cohorts a year.
• 46:46
  and just to sort of get the ball rolling and see how this was going to to work, if it was gonna stick.
• 46:52
  And then once we realise oh this is actually um working really well and we really want to make sure that we do it right and we take the correct um you know one step at a time,
• 47:01
  don't get too ahead of yourselves because it is it did grow very quickly in a very short amount of time.
• 47:08
  um Yeah, so we are up to our our tenth cohort which we'll be conducting in the first half of twenty twenty seven.
• 47:16
  Um and that leads into our tenth year anniversary, which will be in 2028.
• 47:21
  So we'll have team cohorts by the time we are 10 years old, which is really, really cool.
• 47:27
  It's got a nice ring to it.
• 47:29
  Yeah, yeah, for sure.
• 47:30
  So is it i is it the philosophy quality over quantity?
• 47:35
  Because it sounds like a guide at this level would be very, very sought after by anyone out there, like our travel partners wanting to get their clients in the best environment
• 47:46
  on the barrier reef.
• 47:47
  Um, but it seems that you you just said you want to do it step by step, so to speak.
• 47:52
  So you're not interested
• 47:55
  in rushing more guides through the program, you'd much rather again take that step by step, make sure the quality is right when they graduate and then maintain that quality as
• 48:05
  you keep going, correct?
• 48:08
  Absolutely.
• 48:09
  You're exactly right.
• 48:10
  It's about quality, not quantity.
• 48:12
  You're not wanting to flood the market with master reef guides because that dilutes um the essence of what a master reef guide is.
• 48:19
  Um and I think the the beauty of um such a
• 48:26
  a dynamic program is that you can sit for a minute and assess any any time you like.
• 48:32
  And if we go there may be a a a a year where we sit back and go, you know what, let's just invest a bit more in the Master Reef Guides that we have.
• 48:40
  We don't need to do another cohort this year.
• 48:42
  There might be a significant thing that we would really love the Master Reef Guides to dive deeper into and get more of a knowledge base on.
• 48:49
  Let's do that this particular year.
• 48:51
  It's really about ensuring that that professionalism, um, that knowledge
• 48:56
  that expertise is um always at the top at the height of our game
• 49:02
  To make sure that we're always delivering the most world leading world class guest experiences to our guests every day of the year.
• 49:11
  Um so yes, it is very important.
• 49:14
  We're not wanting to take over the world with Master Reef guides.
• 49:19
  We just want to be very very mindful, very alert, um, acutely alert of you know, ver every step that we take, we want to make sure that we're delivering um on what we're saying.
• 49:39
  So just before we wrap up here, so once if it's me, I become a master reef guide, I've graduated, I'm back working for the company I work for.
• 49:47
  Um, am I called back annually, every so often, with my cohort or everyone to be retrained, up trained, whatever the terminology may be?
• 49:58
  Yeah, definitely.
• 49:58
  So there's a few different things.
• 49:59
  Um the first one is we do annual revalidations each year.
• 50:03
  So the master guides have to um get reassessed every single year to make sure again their knowledge and and understanding and their interpretation skills are are hitting the mark.
• 50:15
  So they have that.
• 50:16
  They have to be assessed through.
• 50:17
  Um also their operator needs to endorse them as as being a master eef guide, as it is quite a partnership between the operator, the guide, and the program.
• 50:25
  Um and then with the
• 50:28
  training element to it.
• 50:29
  Every month we do virtual master classes with our Master Reef guide.
• 50:32
  So we dive in deep into one particular topic and we record those and they can watch them back anytime they like.
• 50:39
  We do regional master classes so we head to a particular region um and we do training and highlight, you know, what's unique about that area.
• 50:49
  Um
• 50:50
  For example, I'm we mentioned this area, for example, the Wick Sundays.
• 50:54
  Um the Wix Sundays is the world's first whale heritage listed area within a world heritage area.
• 51:00
  What does that mean?
• 51:01
  Why is it so special?
• 51:03
  Um that's about our Eastern Australian humpback whales.
• 51:06
  They travel up the east coast of Australia every year.
• 51:09
  One of the largest migrations um
• 51:11
  on earth or in the sea.
• 51:13
  Um and they come to the Wit Sundays to breed and give birth to their young um in in their mass numbers.
• 51:19
  And so that's a a beautiful opportunity for the Wit Sundays Master Reef guys to gain that depth of knowledge and understanding.
• 51:28
  And even elements to that on the topic of of our whales, we might um we might talk to accessibility needs.
• 51:36
  So if there was somebody um how can we give that exceptional guest experience through all the senses um with our whales?
• 51:45
  You can hear the whales if even if you were, you know, um vision impaired, um you can hear those whales through um an underwater microphone that comes through the the speakers of
• 51:56
  the boat and the the sound of that and the voice.
• 51:59
  Through the through the vessel.
• 52:00
  You can feel um the whales underneath the surface of the water.
• 52:05
  So trying to deepen that knowledge and understanding, but bringing science into story, giving it that emotional connection for those guests.
• 52:14
  So we do these regional masterclasses.
• 52:16
  We do mega masterclasses where we bring all the cohorts together um for a week for an intensive training.
• 52:24
  And we also bring bring the operators along with them so that they're a part of the journey.
• 52:28
  um Along with the Master Eef guides themselves, so that they're just as connected and just as passionate, um and you can reignite their flame to go back to do what they do every
• 52:40
  single day um in those management roles.
• 52:44
  So there are many different things that we do, and we're always looking to deliver more and more training.
• 52:51
  And uh we have a private Master Reef guide page that's live where all of our mentors sit on.
• 52:58
  So if they're
• 52:58
  Guides are out at the reef one day, and I guess ask them a question and they go, I actually don't know the answer to that.
• 53:04
  Just give me a minute.
• 53:05
  They might jump onto that that private page, ask the question, and within minutes you might have one of the world leading experts in that field give them the most updated
• 53:15
  information that they can then walk over, tell the guests, and the guests are blown away that um they've just been delivered this exceptional um standard of of fact um right there
• 53:28
  out on the
• 53:28
  water.
• 53:29
  So we we're always open to to new ideas and new ways of um delivering that that training to our guests um through our master reef guides to to our guests yeah.
• 53:41
  Okay, I've got three more questions before we wrap up.
• 53:44
  The first one is I think I know the answer, but I'll ask it anyway.
• 53:46
  Um Tourism has well it's not notorious, but you know, has a reputation.
• 53:51
  People move on, they do different jobs.
• 53:53
  You yourself were as a dive instructor all over the world, which is part of the glory of tourism.
• 53:59
  You get to travel over the world.
• 54:00
  So if I'm a master reef guide and I want to go to Tahiti or the Cook Islands or somewhere else where there's a reef, is it a transferable thing?
• 54:11
  Now I know reefs are different, like they're not all the same.
• 54:14
  They may look the same, but there are, you know, differences.
• 54:18
  So is this something that's which is purely Queensland, Great Barrier Reef Australian only, or is it a transferable recognition, I guess, for one of a better term?
• 54:33
  Oh Don, that's a good question.
• 54:34
  So it's an exciting question because
• 54:40
  We're always open to new opportunities and the growth of the program.
• 54:43
  So at the moment, yes, it is only Great Barrier Reef.
• 54:47
  Um so you're a Master Reef guide of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, obviously Australia.
• 54:54
  Um it's not transferable.
• 54:56
  There is no other master reef guides anywhere else in the world.
• 54:59
  but that's not to say that they may not be uh one day, which is a really exciting thing.
• 55:05
  So um something yeah, I think when you want to.
• 55:09
  You never know.
• 55:10
  Maybe there is maybe there isn't.
• 55:11
  Maybe I'm just putting putting something out there to the to the powers to be, to the universe.
• 55:18
  But but at the moment, no, if you want to come and see the reef with the Master Reef Guide, come to the iconic Australia, come to Queensland, um, jump back on that webinar and
• 55:29
  see all the amazing places that Emma talked about earlier.
• 55:32
  But the Great Barrier Reef with the Master Reef Guide is is uh definitely where your dreams may come true.
• 55:39
  I think you've worked in marketing before.
• 55:40
  Um here's a question for you, Master Reef Guide.
• 55:46
  with your literal finger on the pulse down there.
• 55:49
  Um it hasn't made news here in North America for quite a while, but often when it does make news the Barrier Reef, it's sadly the negative that it's dying, that it's in trouble.
• 55:59
  Can you give us an overview, well not an overview, like again, based on time, is it okay?
• 56:06
  Is it struggling?
• 56:07
  Where are we at with the reef?
• 56:10
  Yeah, cool.
• 56:11
  So that's a huge question to unpack.
• 56:14
  And you're right, we don't have much time, but let's just really quickly unpack that one.
• 56:18
  I think the very first thing to mention is um all reefs globally are impacted by climate change.
• 56:26
  All reefs, not just the Great Barrier Reef, every reef on the planet.
• 56:30
  Um so yes, of course the Great Barrier Reef is under a significant amount of stress through climate change.
• 56:37
  and there is other other impacts.
• 56:40
  to to the Great Barrier Reef and other reefs globally as well, such as the starfish called the Crown of Thorn Starfish, which is a coral eating um starfish.
• 56:48
  But in saying that, the Great Barrier Reef is massive.
• 56:53
  It is the size of Italy.
• 56:55
  So there may be a few reefs here and there that are impacted by a coral bleaching when it is summer, a crown of thorns outbreak, um, any kind of coral disease.
• 57:08
  there is lots of different things that can happen with the corals, but it doesn't mean that the entire Great Barrier Reef is dying or the entire Great Barrier Reef is under
• 57:16
  threat.
• 57:17
  There is so much of the Great Barrier Reef that's untouched, not even really discovered, not even researched.
• 57:26
  Uh so yes, there is definitely impacted areas and especially the the reefs that are closer to the mainland.
• 57:31
  So there's runoff from the mainland, um, there's extra nutrients that's coming into the water um from the mainland, there's more activity because people can access those areas of
• 57:42
  the reef, whereas the reefs further out they're not touched and they're un um they're unseen.
• 57:48
  So no, the reef is very much alive, it is vibrant, it is still the world's largest.
• 57:55
  Living organism on Earth.
• 57:58
  And so if if there was a one takeaway message, it would be that if you wanted to look after and protect and conserve coral reefs globally, but especially the Great Barrier
• 58:12
  Reef, you know the best way to do that is come and see it.
• 58:15
  Come and experience it for yourself if you can.
• 58:18
  Um and if you can't experience it for yourself, if that's just out of your budget, that's not within a thing that you're you potentially could do, there are so many little things
• 58:27
  that you can do at home to help protect our natural world.
• 58:31
  Turning a light off, doing some recycling, um, thinking about ways in which that you might manage your day to day world in a bit more of a sustainable way.
• 58:39
  Um it's all a it's one percent.
• 58:42
  One percent difference makes a world of difference.
• 58:45
  We're if we're all gonna change by one percent,
• 58:48
  the impact that has is is phenomenal.
• 58:51
  But um back to the question of is the reef dying?
• 58:54
  Nope.
• 58:55
  It is not.
• 58:56
  It is very much alive.
• 58:57
  There is so much out there to be seen and discovered and it's very magical.
• 59:05
  Excellent.
• 59:05
  And that's in no small part to obviously the program that's uh well not you've you personally have created, but you're part of um with the Master Reef guides, also the
• 59:13
  Queensland government and the Australian government being very conscious of the value of the reef, one financially in tourism, but two just keeping it alive because that's the
• 59:23
  right thing to do.
• 59:24
  Um so that's where the Australian government has been very proactive over the years in doing that.
• 59:28
  So my last question for you, Crystal, um, again, because you are so literally
• 59:34
  Unintended, immersed in the barrier reef.
• 59:37
  What is your favorite part?
• 59:39
  Which is your favorite part of the barrier reef to dive or visit or to explore?
• 59:45
  Is it Whit Sundays?
• 59:46
  Is it the north?
• 59:47
  Is it the the the the fringe in the south?
• 59:51
  Is it outer reef?
• 59:52
  Is it inner reef?
• 59:55
  Or is it yes to all the above?
• 59:57
  Yeah.
• 59:59
  I would say it's yes to all of the above because you could dive or snorkel the exact same location every day for a year and guaranteed every single time you get in the water you'll
• 1:00:14
  see something different.
• 1:00:14
  Something different.
• 1:00:15
  Something else will be happening.
• 1:00:16
  There's a whole community, a whole world down there that is constantly changing and shifting and moving and there's fish to you know, um interacting with other fish and
• 1:00:28
  there's a
• 1:00:31
  a moray eel that's doing something with a different animal and there's so many things that is going on down there that every moment of the day, even if you gone in the water four
• 1:00:42
  times in the same location on the same day, you would still see something different.
• 1:00:46
  The tides change.
• 1:00:48
  So what the coral reef, what the reef looks like at high tide diff compared to low tide, um the different aspects of a reef.
• 1:00:55
  So if you're out on the reef edge where it deeps off into the deep blue water, the colours will be different compared to if you're in
• 1:01:01
  A shallow lagoon area.
• 1:01:03
  Um, when light touches the surface of the water, the first colours that are naturally lost is red, yellow, and orange.
• 1:01:09
  So the first
• 1:01:10
  So when you're looking deeper down in the water, the corals will seem like a bluey green washed out colour.
• 1:01:15
  Um, but it's just because we can't see that colour with our naked eye.
• 1:01:19
  Whereas if you got down deep and you took a photo with a flash with a white with the camera, um, with that white light, it would bring out the vibrance of the colors.
• 1:01:26
  You know?
• 1:01:27
  So yes, I think for me
• 1:01:34
  Any time you're entering the water, no matter where it is, whether it's a fringing reef, an outer reef, off an island, there is something unique and different to see every single
• 1:01:44
  time you're out there and I and I really feel that that's what the magic brings of the reef is that
• 1:01:52
  you just don't know what you're gonna see.
• 1:01:54
  You don't know what's gonna happen.
• 1:01:57
  you're just guided by the wild wonder of of what happens beneath the waves.
• 1:02:03
  So I couldn't tell you my favorite place because I think if you can just get in there and see it, doesn't matter where it is, you will find something truly spectacular.
• 1:02:14
  answered like a true dive instructor and I knew when I and I knew when I asked that question that you wouldn't be able to answer it because it is it's amazing area.
• 1:02:25
  So Emma who has been sitting there so patiently and so quietly as as Chris and I are chatting away.
• 1:02:30
  Emma not so much the reef though I could extend that question to you.
• 1:02:33
  What's your favorite part of the reef?
• 1:02:34
  What's your favorite
• 1:02:41
  I I would have to answer it the same way that that Crystal really really answered the question on the reef.
• 1:02:47
  I have been lucky enough to see many different parts of Queensland.
• 1:02:53
  And I I've just fallen in love with with every area because within each area and within each pocket and region of Queensland, you have access to
• 1:03:05
  The natural wonders like the reef and the rainforest.
• 1:03:08
  And you have that cultural immersion where you get to see the land and the sea from a different perspective and there's incredible food everywhere.
• 1:03:15
  And so there really isn't one place that I could pick because anywhere you decide to go, you're gonna get that immersive experience.
• 1:03:23
  And that that's what makes the destination so special.
• 1:03:27
  Oh, answered like a true Queensland representative there.
• 1:03:30
  Look at that.
• 1:03:32
  Okay, I do have one last question for Crystal.
• 1:03:35
  Are you still diving with your Yeah?
• 1:03:39
  Have you have you got the kids in the water yet to snorkel or dive?
• 1:03:44
  yes.
• 1:03:44
  My um my my kids are water babies through and through.
• 1:03:49
  Um it's in their blood.
• 1:03:51
  What's the youngest you can take someone scuba diving?
• 1:03:55
  The youngest in Queensland is twelve.
• 1:03:57
  Twelve.
• 1:03:58
  For scuba diving, yes.
• 1:03:59
  So you So they haven't scuba dived yet.
• 1:04:02
  They're yet to scuba dive.
• 1:04:03
  Um that's gonna be a a very special moment um in my life when I finally get to do that with my son who will be first and then then my daughter.
• 1:04:13
  But um yes, they're out in the water all the time.
• 1:04:16
  Uh we head out we go out to the reef and
• 1:04:19
  We've got every kind of s child story book that's to do with the ocean.
• 1:04:24
  So they know all about the marine animals.
• 1:04:27
  It's really cool.
• 1:04:28
  uh
• 1:04:29
  Yeah, that will be well again, I think more so for you with your history and your career.
• 1:04:34
  But my oldest son, he got his dive ticket with us in Thailand and and like my wife and I have have dived for years.
• 1:04:41
  Not to your level, but we yeah, we dived.
• 1:04:43
  So it that was really nice doing it with him when he got his ticket as well.
• 1:04:47
  So Emma, do you dive?
• 1:04:48
  Do you have a diving license?
• 1:04:51
  I do not.
• 1:04:51
  I would love to get one.
• 1:04:52
  I I know.
• 1:04:53
  I'm I'm I'm living in Arizona now, but I actually spent about eight years on the island of Oahu in Hawaii living there.
• 1:05:01
  So I did a bit of free diving there and I s I'm a big ocean lover, but I've not gotten my diving license yet.
• 1:05:10
  Make a suggestion next time you're in Queensland that you make a call into Crystal's spot in the Wit Sundays and maybe she can sort you out.
• 1:05:20
  Yes, absolutely.
• 1:05:22
  Wonderful.
• 1:05:23
  Okay, ladies, on that on that note, I'd like to thank you both for your time time, particularly you, Emma.
• 1:05:28
  You just, as I said, sat there so patiently and quietly in the background.
• 1:05:31
  Um, though I I know why you did, because, you know, hearing Crystal's story, her personal story, the Master Reef Guide story and uh what it can offer, let alone what it's doing for
• 1:05:46
  the safety of the reef, the for the longevity of the reef, the protection of the reef.
• 1:05:51
  What this program can offer to you out there, our travel partners, with respect to giving the opportunity for your clients to get probably the best guides available on their reef
• 1:06:04
  experience.
• 1:06:05
  And again, not only waterborne, it could be landborne, airborne, um, and naturally seaborne experiences with the best guides in Queensland.
• 1:06:14
  for the reef.
• 1:06:15
  So on that note, um I'd like to thank Crystal for joining us in your morning in uh sunny is it sunny and wet sundays?
• 1:06:22
  It's always sunday.
• 1:06:25
  When you say the wet sundaes, exactly where are you in the Wit Sundays?
• 1:06:28
  You on one of the islands or you on the you're in Airley Beach.
• 1:06:32
  okay cool.
• 1:06:33
  Which is the gateway to the Wet Sundays if we didn't touch on that during
• 1:06:36
  Podcasts and webinar chats.
• 1:06:38
  And Emma, coming to us from what I guess is now Dark Phoenix in Arizona.
• 1:06:45
  It has, yeah.
• 1:06:46
  It sucks earlier here.
• 1:06:47
  Yeah, it's
• 1:06:48
  What is it?
• 1:06:49
  Eight thirty there.
• 1:06:49
  Yep.
• 1:06:50
  Okay.
• 1:06:50
  Ladies, thank you very much for your time.
• 1:06:52
  that was really informative.
• 1:06:53
  Thank you, Crystal.
• 1:06:54
  Fascinating story.
• 1:06:55
  Congratulations on on now running it or being a uh you know head of the the the program.
• 1:07:01
  That's fantastic.
• 1:07:02
  Um it's great work you're doing.
• 1:07:05
  Um you're offering up, as I say, high the highest quality of guides for our um for our travel um partners out there for their clients when they visit
• 1:07:15
  Queensland.
• 1:07:15
  Emma, again, thank you very much.
• 1:07:17
  And as always, thank you for listening in and carving out a bit of a little bit of over an hour tonight for our podcast.
• 1:07:23
  But I think it was well worth it.
• 1:07:24
  So until next time.
• 1:07:26
  Thank you.
• 1:07:27
  Thank you.
• 1:07:29
  Hello, my name is Jacinta Shackleton.
• 1:07:32
  I work out at Lady Elite Island and I'm currently becoming a master reef guide.
• 1:07:40
  As part this program, we are learning a lot about the health of the reef, condition of lots of different reefs on the Great Barrier Reef, and also about how we should present to
• 1:07:49
  guests and interact with our guests.
• 1:07:51
  The tourism industry at the moment is very, very important for the Great Barrier Reef.
• 1:07:55
  We absolutely love people coming out to see all these beautiful areas and showing them that the Great Barrier Reef is alive, it is not dead.
• 1:08:09
  Yes, the reef is under threat from a few different pressures, but at the moment it is just so important that we do have people coming out and developing that passion for the reef
• 1:08:19
  that we as Monster Reef Guides have.
• 1:08:21
  Every guest that comes out to see the reef actually donates about $7 called the EMC towards the management of the Great Barrier Reef.
• 1:08:29
  When you come out to visit the Great Barrier Reef, what you want to do is look for the Master Reef Guides.
• 1:08:34
  We operate from high standard tourism operators.
• 1:08:37
  We've got lots of up-to-date information, we've got a real passion for the reef, and we will show you why this amazing ecosystem is really worth saving.
• 1:08:45
  My name is Daniela Mateus Holland.
• 1:08:47
  I work for Coral Expeditions and I come from Cairns.
• 1:08:50
  I grew up in Cairns.
• 1:08:51
  When I was selected to be a part of the Master Reef Guide program, um I was incredibly excited and I felt it was a big privilege.
• 1:09:01
  One of the biggest things I've taken away from it is being able to form a connection with people who come from a broad spectrum of areas and ages and backgrounds and being able to
• 1:09:13
  connect shared values so that I can communicate the true facts of the reef.
• 1:09:18
  particularly when it comes to difficult issues such as coral bleaching and other impacts that the reef is facing and being able to show them that the reef is still alive and
• 1:09:29
  amazing and something to to really cherish.
• 1:09:36
  I'm Dustin Maloney.
• 1:09:37
  I work for Experience Co.
• 1:09:38
  I'm from Yarabah.
• 1:09:39
  That's the Kunganji tribal area.
• 1:09:41
  As soon as the guys in the office from my work has told me they nominated me for this, I was like surprised and I was stoked at the same time.
• 1:09:52
  Not like a like a typical classroom.
• 1:09:55
  I felt like it was just another sit down and ran a fight.
• 1:09:58
  The elder, the teacher stood up on front, everybody else sat down and listened.
• 1:10:03
  And I took
• 1:10:04
  Everything that they had to say on board and soaked it all up.
• 1:10:08
  And the stories that they've told me, I'm gonna cherish that for the rest the rest of my days.
• 1:10:12
  I'm gonna pass that on down the next generation.
• 1:10:15
  All the information that I've gathered gathered here on this vessel within this program.
• 1:10:20
  Being an Australian and an Indigenous Australian, I'm actually very proud to actually show not only the rest of Australia but the rest of the world what we have here in our front
• 1:10:31
  yard.