Hear from our panel of whale scientists for a live recording of ABC Radio Big Ideas with Natasha Mitchell. With decades of research between them, our panel will share some fascinating stories of their research and the future of whale science.
Following the panel session there will be a special screening of the stunning documentary The Big Blue: A Secret Spot. A bountiful sea & a huge creature from the deep.
Dr Peter Gill (who features in the film) will provide a special introduction & Q&A.
our Panel
Our Host - Natasha Mitchell - Natasha is a multi-award-winning journalist, radio presenter, and podcaster. She is host of the ABC Radio National's flagship Big Ideas program and podcast, was founding host and producer of the blockbuster radio show and one of the ABC’s first podcasts, All in the Mind, which won the Grand Prize and four Gold World Medals at the New York Radio Festivals, amongst other awards.
Dr Peter Gill - Peter is CEO of the Blue Whale Study, based near Portland Victoria, and an Honorary Research Fellow at Deakin University, Warrnambool. Peter completed a PhD on blue whale ecology at Deakin University, and is the author of numerous publications on cetacean ecology and biology.
Dr Barry McGovern - Barry joined the Pacific Whale Foundation Australia in 2021 as the Australian Research Associate where he manages the research team and leads the field operations to conduct research on the threats cetaceans face in East Australia. Barry has a very broad range of cetacean research experience from a host of different locations around the world.
About The Big Blue: A Secret Spot. A bountiful sea & a huge creature from the deep
The coastline’s unique and dramatic undersea topography causes cold Antarctic water to rise from 4000 metre depths, creating a natural phenomenon called the “Bonney Upwelling”. The result is a feeding free-for-all attracting giant crabs, bluefin tuna, crayfish, dolphins, seals, penguins and masses of seabirds. But that’s just the curtain raiser. The stage is set, the headline act is about to arrive.
Enter the planet’s largest living creature. Around 30 metres long, weighing up to 180 tonnes, with a heart the size of a Volkswagen and a tongue weighs more than an elephant.
A feeding Blue Whale is a sight to behold. Its powerful body driving at speed into swarms of krill, its mouth – big enough to capture 50 tonnes of sea water and anything therein – filling like a gigantic pleated balloon, then it disappears beneath the surface, only to rise again for the next monstrous mouthful.
This Blue Chip Natural History documentary is the first to capture this legendary spectacle – described as “one of the most powerful animal acts imaginable”. It is a scientific quest amongst rugged islands teeming with seal and seabird colonies, a search through seas swarming with predators for the biggest, and the hungriest of them all. THE BIG BLUE.
When: 6.30pm - 9.45pm (doors close at 6.50pm due to live recording)
Cost: $45 adult / $40 concession - includes light supper and single entry Festival Hub Pass.
Drinks available at bar prices.
Bookings required
Where: Berninneit - Theatre
