Fourth of five underwater adventures in exotic locations around the world.
The Great Barrier Reef
Divers Martha Holmes and Mike de Gruy head for Australia, for an event described as "the greatest sex show on earth" - the mass spawning of corals. While waiting for the curtain to rise, they are surrounded by circling grey reef sharks. In a less sinister encounter they face a posse of giant groupers. Up on the beach, the divers watch entranced as turtles lumber ashore to lay eggs. Then, in a fitting climax on the chosen moonlit night, the corals all along this spectacular reef release their eggs and sperm in an underwater extravaganza to rival any firework display. Director Sara Ford
Producer Robin Hellier
● TELETEXT SUBTITLES: page 888
BBC BOOK: 116.95 from booksellers
0 BBC WILDLIFE MAGAZINE: November issue (on sale from Wednesday) includes a guide to the world's best dive sites, a chance to win a diving holiday, plus Martha Holmes 's "Seatrek" diary, 1.75, from newsagents. 0 NATURE: page 10