Great Barrier Reef

Monty Halls explores Australia's Great Barrier Reef, one of the natural wonders of the world and the largest living structure on our planet. This first film examines the complex structure of the coral reef itself and the wildlife that lives on it. So vast that it is visible from space, the reef is actually built by tiny animals in partnership with microscopic plants. It is a place full of surprises.

Amazingly, only seven percent of the Great Barrier Reef is coral and the remainder is a variety of interconnected habitats including the world's oldest jungle, hundreds of islands, mangrove swamps, mysterious deep water gardens, vast sand flats and meadows of sea grass. A giant deep-water lagoon connects all of these, and many of the creatures that live in it are almost impossibly weird.

The Great Barrier Reef is vitally linked to the rest of the planet in many ways. Creatures travel for thousands of miles to visit in spectacular numbers, including tiger sharks, great whales, seabirds and the largest green turtle. Weather systems travelling from across the Pacific also affect the whole reef, with weather patterns and climate change likely to further shape the area and its wildlife.