A fish that can’t swim, the rarest fish in the world, needs a hand.

Our hosts James and Elysee are in south-east Tasmania, home to several species of handfish, a curious creature that ‘walks’ along the sea bed on fins modified to look like hands.

They chat to Dr Tyson Bessell who researches the Red handfish at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania, and talk about the quirks of this little fish. Our hosts also speak to Prof Neville Barrett, a marine ecologist also at the University of Tasmania, who helped discover the decline of handfish several decades ago. Neville talks about how climate change is impacting this sedentary fish and Tyson discusses the Red handfish’s captive breeding program, affectionately nicknamed ‘Handfish School’.

James and Elysee also catch up with the Invasive Sea Star Clean Up group in Hobart, and join volunteers to dive and remove introduced sea star species from handfish habitat. They chat to organiser Keith Thomas-Wurth and other participants too.

Finally, James and Elysee travel to Dodges Ferry, a small town just on-shore from where the only Red handfish populations live. Here they meet Jenny Scott, a local resident who organised a mass beach protest against the expansion of salmon farming in order to protect the handfish. Our hosts discuss the environmental impacts fish farming is having on Tasmanian waterways and Jenny talks about the community's love for their own endangered fish.

Thank you to:

Dr Tyson Bessell

Associate Professor Neville Barrett

Jenny Scott

Keith Thomas-Wurth from Invasive Sea Star Clean up Tasmania

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/1318246581861063
• Clean ups once to twice a month, just show up!

Recorded, written, and edited by James Worsfold and Elysee Lee

The long-awaited Great Koala National Park in NSW's Mid-North Coast was announced in September 2025, and will protect over 400,000 hectares of native forest and countless endangered animals including koalas, Greater gliders, and Yellow-bellied gliders.

But behind this announcement has been years of tireless volunteer community work to put pressure on the government to fulfil their conservation promises, and to make sure that in the meantime, the forests and animals within will still be there to protect.

Hosts James and Elysee meet with ecologist Mark Graham, who introduces them to the lush subtropical forests in the hills behind Coffs Harbour and the charismatic gliders there threatened by native forest logging.

They also meet Deanna Markinova, head of Forest Ecology Alliance, a community volunteer group that conducts surveys to keep checks on logging activity and look out for vulnerable animals.

With De and ecologists Sue and Hank Bower, James and Elysee head out spotlighting to look for Greater and Yellow-bellied gliders to prevent their den trees from being logged.

Finally, James and Elysee visit the Blicks River Guardians – Meredith Stanton and Barry Hunt up in Dorrigo. Every morning they hold a vigil by the main road, blocking the entrance of Clouds Creek State Forest to prevent loggers from going in, and educate people passing by.

Thank you to:

Mark Graham
Deanna Markovina from Forest Ecology Alliance

• https://www.facebook.com/forestecologyalliance/
• Volunteers needed – send a message to their Facebook page or email forestecologyalliance@gmail.com

Sue Bower

Hank Bower

Meredith Stanton and Barry Hunt from Blicks River Guardians (Glider Reviver)

• https://www.facebook.com/blicksriverguardians

Recorded, written, and edited by James Worsfold and Elysee Lee

Like the brushturkey but much more elusive, the Malleefowl is a majestic bird on the decline.

James and Elysee track this bird down in the desert-like Mallee region of north-west Victoria, where they learn about its laborious lifestyle and compost-powered incubating mounds.

They meet a group of volunteers who head into the bush every breeding season to record important Malleefowl data to help aid its recovery, work that's otherwise too expensive for governments.

Ecologist Mirinda Thorpe takes James and Elysee out to find Malleefowl mounds and tells them how volunteer data has been used in a pilot program to rescue Malleefowl eggs after a bushfire.

James and Elysee also chat to Mick Webster and Ross MacFarlane, long-time volunteers, and Ross shares how his family’s farming community spearheaded the volunteer initiative.

James and Elysee explain land clearing and fragmentation, some of the drivers behind the Mallefowl’s decline.

They revisit Mirinda and her partner and fellow ecologist, Iestyn Hosking, to discuss addressing illegal land-clearing, as well as revegetation as a solution. The couple show James and Elysee around their property, which they've transformed from a cleared farm to one full of native vegetation and life.

Thank you to:

The Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group

• https://www.malleefowlvictoria.org.au/
• Registrations for 2025 volunteer training are now open till the 3rd of October!

Ross MacFarlane

Mick Webster

Mirinda Thorpe

Iestyn Hosking

Macy Fuller

Recorded, written, and edited by James Worsfold and Elysee Lee

Welcome to 'Wildlife Ahead', a podcast mini-series about Australia’s unique and threatened animals and the passionate people working to save them from extinction.

This six-part series follows journalists and podcast hosts & creators, James Worsfold and Elysee Lee, on a road trip around Australia as they meet and learn from the invaluable folks dedicating their lives to protecting Australia's biodiversity, and spot some of our most precious animals for themselves.

A new episode of 'Wildlife Ahead' drops every second Wednesday from next week, so set your alarm, we're going bush!

This week we have a special edition of the podcast as we get Outback Mike AKA Mike Atkinson's take on the NSW National Park's proposal regarding camping fees. Mike brought the changes to the public's attention through an Instagram reel which has now reached over a million viewers, so we wanted to hear his thoughts firsthand.

Join our host Amy Fairall as she chats to Mike about the history of the booking system, some of the problems the changes are aimed at addressing and why he thinks they're going about fixing things the wrong way.

You can read more about NSW National Park's proposed changes here.

To have your say, respond to this survey by May 25th.

In this week’s episode, hosts Tim & Amy answer all your ExplorerFest questions, go through their ins & outs for 2025, and discuss their upcoming adventures.

ExplorerFest is our first time venturing into the festival space, and in this episode, we unpack what makes ExplorerFest unique, and what kind of activities, workshops, and entertainment you can expect on the long weekend.

In the lead-up to the new year, the We Are Explorers team has been chatting ins & outs for 2025, as well as their next 12 months of adventure plans, and this episode includes a sneak peek of both.

Tune in for the last time in 2024 and we’ll chat in the new year!


In This Episode We Cover

• ExplorerFest – Everything you need to know
• Ins & Outs 2025
• Tim’s recent MTB crash
• 2025 adventure plans

Show notes

• Get Your ExplorerFest Tickets!
• 4 Insights From My First Climbing Project
  
  
  

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Show us some love and subscribe wherever you get your audio fix. It helps us continue to bring you the goods and uncover the weird and wonderful adventure folk (that’s you!) who are doing inspiring things.

Find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, with new episodes every second hump day.

Or check out the We Are Explorers Podcast page.

We Are Explorers Podcast host, Amy Fairall, chats with Jayden O’Neill (in person!), whose laundry list of titles includes We Are Explorers contributor, MOMENTS film category winner, and National Geographic Photo Instructor and Naturalist. By combining his knowledge from his bachelor’s degree in marine biology with the hard skills he’s learnt as a photographer and videographer, Jayden’s worked all over the world, from Antarctica to the Top End.

In this chat, we hear about Jayden’s career path so far, as well as stories from his adventures, one of which helped him take out the top film prize in our inaugural photo, video, and writing competition, MOMENTS. Jayden’s journey may not be a blueprint everyone can follow, but it’ll definitely inspire you to make decisions based on your passions.

In This Episode We Cover

• Working as a Marine Biologist in Antarctica
• Jayden’s passion for nature
• The importance of science communication
• Photography
• Storytelling
• Working with crocodiles
• Living in the Northern Territory
• The story of The Bleeding Assholes film
• Upcoming adventures

Check out Jayden’s winning adventure film, The Bleeding Assholes, from our inaugural photo, video, and writing comp, MOMENTS


Follow Along for More!

Show us some love and subscribe wherever you get your audio fix. It helps us to continue bringing you the goods and to uncover the weird and wonderful adventure folk (that’s you!) who are doing inspiring things.

Find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts with new episodes every second hump day.

Or check out the We Are Explorers Podcast page.

Hosts Tim and Amy have been chatting all things spooky in the outdoors, with inspo and tales from our readers.

What’s the spookiest thing that’s happened to you on the trail? Maybe you’ve walked through spiderwebs before sunrise or dropped something valuable down a drop dunny. Hosts Tim and Amy deep dive their biggest outdoor nightmares come to life as well as some of our readers.

Listen on, if you dare…

In This Episode We Cover:

• Household critters
• Dehydrating food
• Washing & Repairing expensive outdoor gear
• Outdoor horror stories

Show Notes:

• Hiker Rescued After Hanging by Her Bare Feet For 7 Hours

Follow Along for More!

Show us some love and subscribe wherever you get your audio fix. It helps us to continue bringing you the goods and to uncover the weird and wonderful adventure folk (that’s you!) who are doing inspiring things.

Find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts with new episodes every second hump day.