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Twitter shows off Periscope with a live cross to the Great Barrier Reef

This article has been updated as the scheduled broadcast times being changed due to weather conditions.

Twitter will showcase its Periscope service tomorrow with a Great Barrier Reef Adventure featuring marine experts and conservation advocates including Andy Ridley, former founder of Earth Hour.

Supported by Tourism and Events Queensland and Telstra, the two live Periscope streams will be broadcast at 12.30 and 2pm AEST. The first will feature the announcement of a new conservation campaign while the second will include an underwater tour of the reef.

In the now rescheduled 2pm broadcast Ridley will explain his new Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef campaign, a social movement aiming to unite people from around the world to combat the pressures to the planet’s biodiversity.

Ridley hopes Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef will enable global and local action to protect the reef along with provide a platform allowing people, businesses and communities to work together.

For the earlier broadcast  Periscope adventurer Mitch Oates will take a special GoPro and diving mask underwater to show the world the reef in a new way. With his specialist scuba mask he’ll answer questions from viewers while diving through the coral ecosystem.

“The Great Barrier Reef is a living treasure which is ours to protect and share with visitors from around the world,” said Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Leanne Coddington in Twitter’s media release. “It is our most valuable tourism asset with around two million visitors experiencing it every year.

Suzy Nicoletti, Head of Twitter Australia, added: “Twitter, like no other platform, has an incredible way of breaking down barriers to participation, and of creating connections between people and places. For this project, the Periscope broadcast becomes a literal underwater periscope, to connect our audience to a truly exotic place.

“The Great Barrier Reef Adventure is just one small way to raise awareness of the reef around the world and inspire everyone, no matter where they are, to preserve this site for future generations to enjoy.”

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