Dive Australia’s Great Barrier Reef with Netflix and Google – CNET

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Never been to the Great Barrier Reef? Interactive and immersive experiences are available so you can see it from your couch.

William West / AFP/Getty Images

You don’t have to visit Australia to experience the wonder of the Great Barrier Reef.

Google, Netflix and Twitter, as well as the BBC and Australian nonprofit New Horizons, have produced digital experiences that make the reef accessible from your couch. Swim in the pristine waters of Australia’s Coral Sea, spy on the reef’s bountiful marine life and soak up the grandeur of a UNESCO World Heritage Site without putting on a swimsuit.

Some of the projects use virtual reality to immerse you in a world that is both beautiful and alien. Big names, including David Attenborough and Google, are behind some of the efforts, ensuring they’re as entertaining as they are educational.


This is part of our series “Rebooting the Reef” on efforts to save one of the world’s greatest natural wonders. 


The efforts to document the Great Barrier Reef come as global warming pushes sea temperatures higher, endangering the reef’s coral. Bleachings in 2016 and 2017 killed huge swaths of the tiny marine animals, which expel the algae that live with and nourish them when exposed to heat. An estimated 29 percent of the shallow-water coral was killed last year alone, according to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the government body responsible for monitoring its health.