Page 50 - Port Douglas Magazine 27

DR DEAN MILLER

MARINE ACTIVIST & DOCUMENTARIAN
GREAT BARRIER REEF LEGACY

As a film maker, scientist and researcher, Dr was picked up by ABC and Channel 7. how to fix it. This is the main goal of the
THE ACTIVISIT
Dean Miller has walked with polar bears, My footage has now been included in five GBR Legacy - to be a global leader in
dived with tiger sharks, lived with seals, Attenborough documentaries – a dream marine expeditions, delivering innovative
come eye-to-eye with whales, marched come true. science, education and public engagement
with penguins and flown with eagles. It’s to accelerate actions vital to the future
“The conservation chapter with the
a long way away from the Western suburbs survival of coral reefs.
Great Barrier Reef Legacy comes in
of Melbourne where he grew up, watching
where I’ve seen big changes in the last “There’s only one research vessel currently
David Attenborough documentaries.
20 years. Although change is natural, available for the entire Great Barrier Reef,
“I decided at a very young age that a this much change is significant, and not and it’s based in Townsville. We want to
marine biologist was the path I wanted really supposed to happen so quickly. My have a second GBR Legacy vessel, based
to tread. So I moved up here as soon as I experience has been to see how much of here, making Port Douglas the centrepoint
could, studied at JCU Townsville and lived an effect we humans are having in our of all reef restoration,” Dean explained.
out my dream,” said Dean. natural world. I’ve specialised in visiting
the most inhospitable places on the planet
“While I was in my honours year, I saw an
ad for crew on The Undersea Explorer – a to capture the beauty of those places and
communicate with a global audience how “We have a unique
research tourism vessel – and thought, ‘I’m
fragile those ecosystems are,” he said.
in’. I met with John Rumney, skipper of the So, what can we do? “Everything we’re opportunity
vessel, and signed myself up to wash dishes
for a week. I fell in love with the adventure not doing now! Changing light globes,
of diving, and diving with purpose. I ended riding bikes – all that helps, but unless we here in North
up being the on board marine biologist communicate that to our governments, Queensland
stand together as a global audience and
for four years. This gave me a better
dictating to our leaders what the right road
background and more learning potential is, we won’t see change fast enough. It’s our – we have an
than any university degree could possibly
do. I was on the water every day, learning livelihood here – we need to start behaving
about the reef quite literally by immersion. that way. opportunity to
be leaders in reef
“John Rumney had a revolutionary idea to “We have a unique opportunity here in
mix research and tourism. His belief was North Queensland – we have an opportunity
that if we can have tourists go out on these to be leaders in reef conservation. We need conservation. We
expeditions and pay for the researchers, to be the best communicators to the rest of
the researchers can show the tourists their the world what’s actually at stake. And it’s need to be the best
work first hand, and they can be a part not just the Great Barrier Reef, it’s coral
of the program. It was the first true eco- reefs throughout the world. We rely in the communicators
tourism concept. GBR for tourism, but there are others that
rely on it for everyday living.
“A few years later, I got an opportunity to the rest of the
to go to the Antarctic. John convinced “The Great Barrier Reef Legacy has
world what’s
me to spend my life savings on filming raised another $200K to take the boat
equipment. I filmed everything I saw and up to the far northern regions. We know
did and turned it into a documentary that what’s wrong, but now have to figure out actually at stake.”
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