Sign In / Register
A stellar line-up of contributors is taking part in a new online children’s show from Snells Beach father and daughter marine broadcasters, Steve and Riley Hathaway, which starts on Wednesday April 15.
Guests will include microbiologist and media science communicator Siouxsie Wiles, Shark Week presenter Andy Casagrande and fishing broadcaster and Prime Ministerial partner Clarke Gayford.
Young Ocean Explorers Online will launch at 12.30pm next Wednesday (April 15) on Facebook Live and at www.youngoceanexplorers.com, and will be broadcast on each subsequent weekday during lockdown.
Kids can interact with the special guests by sending in questions in advance of each show, or during live sections of the programme, which will run for 25 minutes.
The Hathaway family says they wanted to do something special for young people and invited a range of “ocean legends” to take part and answer questions.
“The idea behind the series is to offer kids an inspirational and fun daily show, that they can interact with, bringing a positive distraction while schools are shut and families are stuck at home,” they say.
Each show will be around 60 per cent pre-recorded and 40 per cent live. Children will be able to ask Steve and Riley questions during the live sections by logging into the Young Ocean Explorers website, and submit questions in advance for the guests, who will be interviewed via Zoom.
Other guests lined up for the show include world champion free diver William Trubridge, photographer and Sea Legacy founder Paul Nicklen, orca researcher Ingrid Visser, Australian shark attack survivor and conservationist Rodney Fox, and champion yachtsmen Pete Burling and Blair Tuke. All will answer questions on their oceanic speciality, except for Siouxsie Wiles, who will answer children’s questions about Covid-19.
The show will also feature daily competitions and art lessons, with underwater cameras and Young Ocean Explorer books as prizes.
To submit questions to Steve and Riley, or one of their guests, visit Young Ocean Explorers on Facebook.
Steve Hathaway is an award-winning underwater photographer who, with daughter Riley, launched Young Ocean Explorers in 2012 to inform and educate children about the ocean, its inhabitants and the threats posed to marine life.
