April 24, 2025 • 8 mins
This special edition of Late Night Health takes you deep beneath the surface—literally and emotionally—as we spotlight one of the greatest natural wonders on Earth: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Host Mark Alyn is joined by Natalie Smith, a senior marine biologist and reef guide with GBR Biology, and Mark Olsen, CEO of Tourism Tropical North Queensland. Together, they unveil not just the reef’s jaw-dropping beauty and scale—it’s 1,400 miles long and visible from space—but also its urgent need for our help. In this powerful conversation, you’ll discover: • Why the Great Barrier Reef is considered the “beating heart of the ocean.” • The real and growing threats of climate change, overfishing, pollution, and coral disease. • How everyday travelers can actively contribute to reef conservation efforts while visiting. • Why tourism is not a threat, but a critical part of saving the reef. • An innovative grassroots campaign to give the reef a Lifetime Achievement Award—the first ever granted to a non-human entity. 🌊 Want to be part of something truly meaningful?
Visit 👉 aLifetimeOfGreatness.com 👈 Join the movement to recognize and protect this incredible ecosystem. Whether you’re a diver, a tourist, or someone who simply wants to help protect our planet, this interview will inspire you to take action. Learn how coral restoration projects, hands-on conservation, and public awareness can make a real difference. 🪸 As Natalie reminds us, “When people understand something, they love it. When they love it, they want to protect it.” 🎧 Listen now. Then visit www.aLifetimeOfGreatness.com to show your support and be part of a global effort to celebrate and save one of the most magical places on Earth.
#GreatBarrierReef #ClimateAction #ALifetimeOfGreatness #ReefRestoration #LateNightHealth #CoralReefConservation #NatureDeservesAwards #OceanProtection #TourismForGood
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/late-night-health-radio--2804369/support.
Visit 👉 aLifetimeOfGreatness.com 👈 Join the movement to recognize and protect this incredible ecosystem. Whether you’re a diver, a tourist, or someone who simply wants to help protect our planet, this interview will inspire you to take action. Learn how coral restoration projects, hands-on conservation, and public awareness can make a real difference. 🪸 As Natalie reminds us, “When people understand something, they love it. When they love it, they want to protect it.” 🎧 Listen now. Then visit www.aLifetimeOfGreatness.com to show your support and be part of a global effort to celebrate and save one of the most magical places on Earth.
#GreatBarrierReef #ClimateAction #ALifetimeOfGreatness #ReefRestoration #LateNightHealth #CoralReefConservation #NatureDeservesAwards #OceanProtection #TourismForGood
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/late-night-health-radio--2804369/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is a special edition of Late Night Health. I'm
Mark Allen. We are going to learn about the efforts
to protect one of the great wonders of the natural
world and the modern world. And that's of course, the
Great Barrier Reef. Down there, and I'm saying down there
(00:29):
in Australia, we have some pretty interesting people that we're
going to be talking to. First, we're going to be
talking with Natalie Smith. She's a senior marine biologist and
Master Reef guide with GBO Biology. Also Mark Olson, he's
the CEO of Tourism Tropical North Queensland. And we're going
(00:53):
to be talking about the Great Barrier Reef. Why Natalie,
I'm going to start with you because you're smiling. Why
should we support the Great Barrier Reef? What's the importance
of that?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, absolutely so. The Great very Reef is the largest
living entity in the world. You know, it can be
seen from out of space. To put that in perspective,
it's about one thousand and four hundred miles long, and
it supports so much life. It supports of a nine
thousand different species, which makes it one of the most
biodiverse ecosystems in the world. It's the beating heart of
(01:31):
the ocean. It provides so much life, so much support.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
But it's so much more than that.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
It's a teacher, it's a mentor, it's a provider and
a healer. I'm still learning every day when I'm out there,
which is the beauty of my job.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
But you know, it.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Deserves this recognition. It's touched thousands to millions of people
every year and it deserves a lifetime of greatness. It
deserves to be their lifetime Achievement Award.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
And if you ever need somebody to help you, I'm available.
If you're the CEO of Tourism Tropical North Queensland. Do
people come from all over the world to see this
remarkable place, They absolutely.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Do, Mark and we love welcoming people from around the world.
As Natalie said, the Grape Berrier Reef is one thousand,
four hundred miles long. It's the distance from Seattle to
Baja California.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
It's the entire coastline.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I was lucky enough to jump in the water at
Catalina when I was over your way just a few
months ago. And it's a beautiful part of the world.
But imagine that times ten and then stretched out over
one thousand, four hundred miles, but unlike the West coast
of the US, we've got a tiny population who were
living on this coastline. We actually need our tourists to
(02:58):
be a part of reef concervation. This thing is enormous.
It's half the size of Texas, and we need the
eyes and ears in the water. We need to know
what's going on with heat stresses. We need to know
what's going on with the marine life. There's thousands of
species of coral and fish and mollusks, and we don't
know all that we need to know about them. So
(03:18):
tourism plays such an important role. We love welcoming people
and that's why we want to shine a light on
coral reefs. And the best managed reef on the world
is the Great Barrier Reef, and it's inspired millions to
take action on climate change and learning more about the
marine environment. We reckon it deserves to get a little
(03:39):
bit more spotlight on it.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Mark here in the United States on the Western on
the Western coast, like Catalina. Have been there many times
since I was a kid, and we brought our kids there.
There's pollution, is there pollution? The Great Barrier reef.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
So the Great Bay Reef does have a few challenges,
and one of the main threats to the Great Bay
Reef is climate change. So climate change is the biggest threat,
and we see that through increased disturbances, through heat stress,
large weather events like tropical cyclones or hurricanes, natural outbreaks,
and natural predators like the chrown of thorn starfish and
(04:23):
chapella snails. Yeah, pollution can be one over Fishing is
another one, and coastal development is a large one as well,
but climate change is at the forefront of threatening the reef.
And as part of my job, I'm out there monitoring
the reef. Each time I go out, I collect data
for the government. I know my site's like the back
of my hand. I know when there's something out of place,
(04:43):
there's disease or a bleach coral, crown thorne starfish. And
the cool thing with that is I'm actually their educating
guests about it so they get to witness it firsthand.
And you know, by educating guests, they understand it. When
people understand something, they love it. When people love something,
they want to protect it. And that's what we're all about.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
How do we educate people on the fact that there
is climate change, because there are a lot of people
in this country and around the all that don't believe
it's happening.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Natalie, Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, welcome to my job every day.
But the fact is it is happening. It's happening in
front of our eyes. So we climate change and growing
carbon emissions. They predict that these weather events become more
frequent and more severe, and we're already seeing that. So
we're already seeing that those things are happening. So, you know,
(05:38):
in doing that, we're able to educate guests, but we're
able to actually get guest hands on in that active
conservation out on the reef. So at GBR Biology we
do something really cool and we do what we call
reef Recovery Days. So we take little bits of coral
fragments that are broken off the reef naturally and attach
them to these stars, sort of transplanting them back on
(05:58):
the reef and giving them a second chance of survival
because the reef is really resilient, like it will bounce
back very well on its own.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
But were actually able to have guests get hands on
in that and they can witness that firsthand, and you know,
it's spreading that awareness.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Make Is it easy to tour the group a Barrier
Barrier Reef? Yeah, absolutely, Mark.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
There's so many different ways that you can get a
chance to experience it. So Natalie can take people out
who've never even swum before, and we can do guided
snorkeling tours. We can put you in a glass bottom boat,
take you out to a pontoon. You can be there
with the family and the kids can get in off
the steps and see the Great Barrier Rey for themselves.
And I guarantee you there's not a person you'll see
(06:43):
who's come back from the Great Barrier Reef who isn't
inspired and who doesn't want to do something to take action.
And that's why we created the Lifetime of Greatness project.
It's about taking action. Going to our website a Lifetime
of Greatness dot com. We want to do something really
different with your support market, with the support of your listeners,
(07:05):
we want to get the Great Barrier Reef a Lifetime
Achievement Award. Be the first non human to stand next
to so David Attenborough and receive a Lifetime Achievement Award
for nine thousand years of inspiration, of protection and of
absolute magic. But we can't do that without your support.
(07:25):
And when we do, the momentum that we create, it's
going to inspire the next generation of marine scientists like Natalie,
and it's going to bring the awareness that we need
to coral reefs to stop this conversation about or aren't
we experiencing climate changes and get back to how do
we take action today? And you can start simply by
(07:46):
going to a Lifetime of Greatness dot com.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And we've all heard of artificial intelligence.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
This is an artificial intelligence, it's natural intelligence. So visit
a Lifetime of Greekness dot com. A Lifetime of Greatness
dot com.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Our guests have been Mark Olsen and Natalie Smith and
I thank you very much. Anything we can do here
at Late Night Health let us know. Okay, I'm worry
you your support, Mack, our pleasure U. This is Late
Night Health. We'll see you next time.
This is a special edition of Late Night Health. I'm
Mark Allen. We are going to learn about the efforts
to protect one of the great wonders of the natural
world and the modern world. And that's of course, the
Great Barrier Reef. Down there, and I'm saying down there
(00:29):
in Australia, we have some pretty interesting people that we're
going to be talking to. First, we're going to be
talking with Natalie Smith. She's a senior marine biologist and
Master Reef guide with GBO Biology. Also Mark Olson, he's
the CEO of Tourism Tropical North Queensland. And we're going
(00:53):
to be talking about the Great Barrier Reef. Why Natalie,
I'm going to start with you because you're smiling. Why
should we support the Great Barrier Reef? What's the importance
of that?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, absolutely so. The Great very Reef is the largest
living entity in the world. You know, it can be
seen from out of space. To put that in perspective,
it's about one thousand and four hundred miles long, and
it supports so much life. It supports of a nine
thousand different species, which makes it one of the most
biodiverse ecosystems in the world. It's the beating heart of
(01:31):
the ocean. It provides so much life, so much support.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
But it's so much more than that.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
It's a teacher, it's a mentor, it's a provider and
a healer. I'm still learning every day when I'm out there,
which is the beauty of my job.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
But you know, it.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Deserves this recognition. It's touched thousands to millions of people
every year and it deserves a lifetime of greatness. It
deserves to be their lifetime Achievement Award.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
And if you ever need somebody to help you, I'm available.
If you're the CEO of Tourism Tropical North Queensland. Do
people come from all over the world to see this
remarkable place, They absolutely.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Do, Mark and we love welcoming people from around the world.
As Natalie said, the Grape Berrier Reef is one thousand,
four hundred miles long. It's the distance from Seattle to
Baja California.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
It's the entire coastline.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I was lucky enough to jump in the water at
Catalina when I was over your way just a few
months ago. And it's a beautiful part of the world.
But imagine that times ten and then stretched out over
one thousand, four hundred miles, but unlike the West coast
of the US, we've got a tiny population who were
living on this coastline. We actually need our tourists to
(02:58):
be a part of reef concervation. This thing is enormous.
It's half the size of Texas, and we need the
eyes and ears in the water. We need to know
what's going on with heat stresses. We need to know
what's going on with the marine life. There's thousands of
species of coral and fish and mollusks, and we don't
know all that we need to know about them. So
(03:18):
tourism plays such an important role. We love welcoming people
and that's why we want to shine a light on
coral reefs. And the best managed reef on the world
is the Great Barrier Reef, and it's inspired millions to
take action on climate change and learning more about the
marine environment. We reckon it deserves to get a little
(03:39):
bit more spotlight on it.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Mark here in the United States on the Western on
the Western coast, like Catalina. Have been there many times
since I was a kid, and we brought our kids there.
There's pollution, is there pollution? The Great Barrier reef.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
So the Great Bay Reef does have a few challenges,
and one of the main threats to the Great Bay
Reef is climate change. So climate change is the biggest threat,
and we see that through increased disturbances, through heat stress,
large weather events like tropical cyclones or hurricanes, natural outbreaks,
and natural predators like the chrown of thorn starfish and
(04:23):
chapella snails. Yeah, pollution can be one over Fishing is
another one, and coastal development is a large one as well,
but climate change is at the forefront of threatening the reef.
And as part of my job, I'm out there monitoring
the reef. Each time I go out, I collect data
for the government. I know my site's like the back
of my hand. I know when there's something out of place,
(04:43):
there's disease or a bleach coral, crown thorne starfish. And
the cool thing with that is I'm actually their educating
guests about it so they get to witness it firsthand.
And you know, by educating guests, they understand it. When
people understand something, they love it. When people love something,
they want to protect it. And that's what we're all about.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
How do we educate people on the fact that there
is climate change, because there are a lot of people
in this country and around the all that don't believe
it's happening.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Natalie, Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, welcome to my job every day.
But the fact is it is happening. It's happening in
front of our eyes. So we climate change and growing
carbon emissions. They predict that these weather events become more
frequent and more severe, and we're already seeing that. So
we're already seeing that those things are happening. So, you know,
(05:38):
in doing that, we're able to educate guests, but we're
able to actually get guest hands on in that active
conservation out on the reef. So at GBR Biology we
do something really cool and we do what we call
reef Recovery Days. So we take little bits of coral
fragments that are broken off the reef naturally and attach
them to these stars, sort of transplanting them back on
(05:58):
the reef and giving them a second chance of survival
because the reef is really resilient, like it will bounce
back very well on its own.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
But were actually able to have guests get hands on
in that and they can witness that firsthand, and you know,
it's spreading that awareness.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Make Is it easy to tour the group a Barrier
Barrier Reef? Yeah, absolutely, Mark.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
There's so many different ways that you can get a
chance to experience it. So Natalie can take people out
who've never even swum before, and we can do guided
snorkeling tours. We can put you in a glass bottom boat,
take you out to a pontoon. You can be there
with the family and the kids can get in off
the steps and see the Great Barrier Rey for themselves.
And I guarantee you there's not a person you'll see
(06:43):
who's come back from the Great Barrier Reef who isn't
inspired and who doesn't want to do something to take action.
And that's why we created the Lifetime of Greatness project.
It's about taking action. Going to our website a Lifetime
of Greatness dot com. We want to do something really
different with your support market, with the support of your listeners,
(07:05):
we want to get the Great Barrier Reef a Lifetime
Achievement Award. Be the first non human to stand next
to so David Attenborough and receive a Lifetime Achievement Award
for nine thousand years of inspiration, of protection and of
absolute magic. But we can't do that without your support.
(07:25):
And when we do, the momentum that we create, it's
going to inspire the next generation of marine scientists like Natalie,
and it's going to bring the awareness that we need
to coral reefs to stop this conversation about or aren't
we experiencing climate changes and get back to how do
we take action today? And you can start simply by
(07:46):
going to a Lifetime of Greatness dot com.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And we've all heard of artificial intelligence.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
This is an artificial intelligence, it's natural intelligence. So visit
a Lifetime of Greekness dot com. A Lifetime of Greatness
dot com.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Our guests have been Mark Olsen and Natalie Smith and
I thank you very much. Anything we can do here
at Late Night Health let us know. Okay, I'm worry
you your support, Mack, our pleasure U. This is Late
Night Health. We'll see you next time.
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