Latest news with #'sSecretLives
Perth Now
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Dr Ann heads west for new ABC science show
Dr Ann Jones loves science — a lot. So much, in fact, that the ABC journalist, whose PhD is actually in history, has made a career of communicating the joys of the natural world through TV series including last year's The Secret Lives Of Our Urban Birds, podcasts (she hosts ABC's enormously popular What The Duck?!) and radio shows. Her latest project for television is the new six-part series, Dr Ann's Secret Lives, which sees the presenter stepping into the field alongside scientists to study some of the world's most elusive creatures and 'uncover the secrets of how these remarkable creatures adapt, survive, and thrive in their environments'. Each episode focuses on one animal, with Jones travelling to all manner of places to study all manner of animals. Nothing, and no animal, is off limits, with everything from bull sharks to wild orangutans, dugongs to the 'the weirdest animal on the planet', the pangolin, getting a look in. Jones shot two episodes in Western Australia, where she headed off to the coast of Karratha to get up close and personal with deadly sea snakes and went to Rosemary Island in the Dampier Archipelago to meet wild turtles; both were 'pinch me' moments. 'It was incredible,' she admits. 'But also, I love nerds as well, so being around all these very highly skilled and competent and extremely smart animal lovers was my ideal place. 'These are people who, like me, love looking at the intricacies of, say, sea grass or some particular animal or whatever, and get lost in the details. So there was a lot of pinching of myself, but also a lot of 'what the hell have I got myself into?'' Dr Ann Jones spent time with scientists on an expedition off the Pilbara coast studying sea snakes. Credit: Supplied The question was especially pertinent on the episode where they find, catch and study elusive sea snakes aboard a research vessel off the Pilbara. These marine reptiles are highly venomous, and the trip could very quickly have taken a turn for the worst. 'We were 30 or 40km out to sea and if someone had got bitten, we didn't have any antivenom aboard, so we would have had to speed back to land as quickly as possible and hope for the best. 'I still haven't told my mum about that.' Fortunately there were no incidents, though the trip was not without its challenges. 'Most people went down with sea sickness,' Jones explains. 'I expected that I might be that person, but I was actually one of the last men standing.' If you'd like to view this content, please adjust your . To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide. It meant she was called upon to lend a hand with the collection of the snakes. 'It was like a sushi train of sea snakes coming through, and the weather was horrible,' she explains. 'We had snakes in nets, snakes in buckets . . . the thing is, the welfare of those animals is in your hands, so I felt that was what drove me through. 'I didn't feel too sick because I was so focused on these animals — and not getting bitten.' Dr Ann's Secret Lives starts Tuesday, July 15 at 8.30pm on ABC.
The Age
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘Oh my god, let it go!' The ABC show getting (almost) too close to dangerous animals
ABC nature journalist Dr Ann Jones, best known for her ornithological series The Secret Lives of Urban Birds and Meet the Penguins, has revealed her wilder side. In the new six-part series, Dr Ann's Secret Lives, she swaps the gentle art of backyard birdwatching for the choppy seas off Queensland and Western Australia, and the jungles of Borneo, chasing bull sharks, sea snakes, orangutans, sea turtles, dugongs and pangolins. The scientists dedicated to monitoring their survival are as much a focus as the animals. 'We don't exist separate to nature,' says Jones, who lives with a strictly indoor Maine Coon cat named Bubbles and a freshwater prawn called Prawn Connery. 'All natural history documentaries are made on the back of research from people like those featured in this program,' says Jones. 'I think it's important to not shy away from how we get information, which sometimes means that you're uncomfortable. But that's how we find out things that will protect the species.' In the series, marine ecologist Nicolas Lubitz remarks that the work of biologists is '95 per cent boredom, 5 per cent chaos'. Jones agrees: 'The majority of the work that a scientist does will be based in an office or a lab, in front of a computer. And so what you see [in the series] is the high point of the year when they actually spend time with the animals. Fieldwork is addictive. I think it fuels the rest of their year.' In the first episode, Jones joins Lubitz and his team on a perilous expedition tagging bull sharks off the coast of Townsville, during which she becomes visibly distressed as the thrashing fish is roped. 'I was scared, but I expected to worry more about myself,' says Jones. 'But the way in which they subdue a shark is by catching it and then turning it upside down, and then it goes into a sleepy state. And to see this animal so completely vulnerable – I'm just a complete softie. And this is probably why I'm a broadcaster and not a scientist. I'm just like, 'Oh my god, let it go! Let it go!'' In Moreton Bay near Brisbane, the seagrass-munching dugong stole her heart. 'They were surprisingly muscular. They have really dense whiskers, triple the thickness of a cat whisker. And their breath smells like grass.'
Sydney Morning Herald
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Oh my god, let it go!' The ABC show getting (almost) too close to dangerous animals
ABC nature journalist Dr Ann Jones, best known for her ornithological series The Secret Lives of Urban Birds and Meet the Penguins, has revealed her wilder side. In the new six-part series, Dr Ann's Secret Lives, she swaps the gentle art of backyard birdwatching for the choppy seas off Queensland and Western Australia, and the jungles of Borneo, chasing bull sharks, sea snakes, orangutans, sea turtles, dugongs and pangolins. The scientists dedicated to monitoring their survival are as much a focus as the animals. 'We don't exist separate to nature,' says Jones, who lives with a strictly indoor Maine Coon cat named Bubbles and a freshwater prawn called Prawn Connery. 'All natural history documentaries are made on the back of research from people like those featured in this program,' says Jones. 'I think it's important to not shy away from how we get information, which sometimes means that you're uncomfortable. But that's how we find out things that will protect the species.' In the series, marine ecologist Nicolas Lubitz remarks that the work of biologists is '95 per cent boredom, 5 per cent chaos'. Jones agrees: 'The majority of the work that a scientist does will be based in an office or a lab, in front of a computer. And so what you see [in the series] is the high point of the year when they actually spend time with the animals. Fieldwork is addictive. I think it fuels the rest of their year.' In the first episode, Jones joins Lubitz and his team on a perilous expedition tagging bull sharks off the coast of Townsville, during which she becomes visibly distressed as the thrashing fish is roped. 'I was scared, but I expected to worry more about myself,' says Jones. 'But the way in which they subdue a shark is by catching it and then turning it upside down, and then it goes into a sleepy state. And to see this animal so completely vulnerable – I'm just a complete softie. And this is probably why I'm a broadcaster and not a scientist. I'm just like, 'Oh my god, let it go! Let it go!'' In Moreton Bay near Brisbane, the seagrass-munching dugong stole her heart. 'They were surprisingly muscular. They have really dense whiskers, triple the thickness of a cat whisker. And their breath smells like grass.'
The Age
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘Oh my god, let it go!': The ABC show getting (almost) too close to dangerous animals
ABC nature journalist Dr Ann Jones, best known for her ornithological series, The Secret Lives of Urban Birds and Meet the Penguins, has revealed her wilder side. In the new six-part series, Dr Ann's Secret Lives, she swaps the gentle art of backyard bird-watching for the choppy seas off Queensland and Western Australia, and the jungles of Borneo, chasing bull sharks, sea snakes, orangutans, sea turtles, dugongs and pangolins. The scientists dedicated to monitoring their survival are as much a focus as the animals. 'We don't exist separate to nature,' says Jones, who lives with a strictly indoor Maine Coon cat named Bubbles and a freshwater prawn called Prawn Connery. 'All natural history documentaries are made on the back of research from people, like those featured in this program,' says Jones. 'I think it's important to not shy away from how we get information, which sometimes means that you're uncomfortable. But that's how we find out things that will protect the species.' In the series, marine ecologist Nicolas Lubitz remarks that the work of biologists is, '95 per cent boredom, 5 per cent chaos'. Jones agrees: 'The majority of the work that a scientist does will be based in an office or a lab, in front of a computer. And so what you see [in the series] is the high point of the year when they actually spend time with the animals. Fieldwork is addictive. I think it fuels the rest of their year.' In the first episode, Jones joins Lubitz and his team on a perilous expedition tagging bull sharks off the coast of Townsville, during which she becomes visibly distressed as the thrashing fish is roped. 'I was scared, but I expected to worry more about myself,' says Jones. 'But the way in which they subdue a shark is by catching it and then turning it upside down, and then it goes into a sleepy state. And to see this animal so completely vulnerable – I'm just a complete softie. And this is probably why I'm a broadcaster and not a scientist. I'm just like, 'Oh my god, let it go! Let it go!'' In Moreton Bay near Brisbane, the seagrass-munching dugong stole her heart. 'They were surprisingly muscular. They have really dense whiskers, triple the thickness of a cat whisker. And their breath smells like grass.'
Sydney Morning Herald
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Oh my god, let it go!': The ABC show getting (almost) too close to dangerous animals
ABC nature journalist Dr Ann Jones, best known for her ornithological series, The Secret Lives of Urban Birds and Meet the Penguins, has revealed her wilder side. In the new six-part series, Dr Ann's Secret Lives, she swaps the gentle art of backyard bird-watching for the choppy seas off Queensland and Western Australia, and the jungles of Borneo, chasing bull sharks, sea snakes, orangutans, sea turtles, dugongs and pangolins. The scientists dedicated to monitoring their survival are as much a focus as the animals. 'We don't exist separate to nature,' says Jones, who lives with a strictly indoor Maine Coon cat named Bubbles and a freshwater prawn called Prawn Connery. 'All natural history documentaries are made on the back of research from people, like those featured in this program,' says Jones. 'I think it's important to not shy away from how we get information, which sometimes means that you're uncomfortable. But that's how we find out things that will protect the species.' In the series, marine ecologist Nicolas Lubitz remarks that the work of biologists is, '95 per cent boredom, 5 per cent chaos'. Jones agrees: 'The majority of the work that a scientist does will be based in an office or a lab, in front of a computer. And so what you see [in the series] is the high point of the year when they actually spend time with the animals. Fieldwork is addictive. I think it fuels the rest of their year.' In the first episode, Jones joins Lubitz and his team on a perilous expedition tagging bull sharks off the coast of Townsville, during which she becomes visibly distressed as the thrashing fish is roped. 'I was scared, but I expected to worry more about myself,' says Jones. 'But the way in which they subdue a shark is by catching it and then turning it upside down, and then it goes into a sleepy state. And to see this animal so completely vulnerable – I'm just a complete softie. And this is probably why I'm a broadcaster and not a scientist. I'm just like, 'Oh my god, let it go! Let it go!'' In Moreton Bay near Brisbane, the seagrass-munching dugong stole her heart. 'They were surprisingly muscular. They have really dense whiskers, triple the thickness of a cat whisker. And their breath smells like grass.'
