This place is so extreme that NASA sends scientists to test equipment for Mars missions. And yet, Australia's salty lakes are full of life.

Featuring:

• Bonnie Teece, Postgraduate Researcher at UNSW
• Angus D'Arcy Lawrie, PhD Student at Murdoch University.

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
• Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
• Joel Werner, Script Editing.

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.

Ann finds out that birds are not really blue. Not even bluebirds. If they're not blue, then what the duck are they?

Featuring:

• Richard McClure, Stems Flower Market, Ballarat.
• Nate Byrne, ABC News Breakfast Meteorologist and science nerd.
• Prof Andrew Lowe, University of Adelaide.
• Dr Kate Umbers, University of Western Sydney.

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
• Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
• Joel Werner, Script Editing.

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.

Listen back to the What the Duck?! special broadcast with Dr Ann Jones and Cassie McCullagh.

After 65,000 votes, Australia has spoken — the rakali has been crowned Australia's most underrated native animal!

Raking in a whopping 20 per cent of the votes cast, the water rat was well out in front.

Here are the results:

1. 1.Rakali
2. 2.Palm cockatoo
3. 3.Giant cuttlefish
4. 4.Dugong
5. 5.Marsupial mole
6. 6.Turtle frog
7. 7.Velvet worm
8. 8.Great desert skink
9. 9.Ghost bat
10. 10.Short-finned eel

You can also read more on the ABC News blog from the countdown:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-15/wildlife-blog-15-august-2025/105651126

Featuring:

• Professor Euan Ritchie, Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at Deakin University
• Jacinta Bowler, ABC Science Reporter
• Dr Kirsti Abbott, head of science at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
• Professor Nicki Mitchell, UWA
• Jonathan Webb, ABC Science Editor
• Dr Mark Norman, Chief Scientist Parks Victoria
• Dr Christina N Zdenek, ecologist with People for Wildlife
• Professor Peter Banks, University of Sydney

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• James Bullen, Producer
• Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer

They live off seagrass, and sound like a teeny bird, but can weigh in at more than 400 kilograms and will cut you with their tusks.

Dugongs (Dugong dugon) were once confused for mermaids.

Yanyuwa people in the Golf of Carpentaria have observed their roles in family groups and identified 16 different types of dugongs.

Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104

Featuring:

• Dr Rachel Groom, Charles Darwin University

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Jacinta Bowler, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

Stream the brand-new series Dr Ann's Secret Lives on ABC iview.

It's a bold claim, but the palm cockatoo might be the most punk-rock bird of all.

The black and scarlet parrot lives in the rainforests and woodlands of Far North Queensland, as well as the Aru Islands and New Guinea.

With a wingspan of 1.5 metres, the palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus) is an impressive bird, with a black mohawk and a powerful beak.

Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104

Featuring:

• Dr Christina N Zdenek, ecologist with People for Wildlife

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Jacinta Bowler, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

Stream the brand-new series Dr Ann's Secret Lives on ABC iview.

This little orange lizard lives with his mum and poos outside. What's not to love?

The great desert skink (Liopholis kintorei) can be found in the deserts of the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Western Australia.

They live in large burrows in family groups, which is extremely unusual for reptiles.

Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104

Featuring:

• Christine Ellis Michaels, Warlpiri ranger
• Dr Rachel Paltridge, Indigenous Desert Alliance

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Jacinta Bowler, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

Stream the brand-new series Dr Ann's Secret Lives on ABC iview.

What has no eyes, no ears, and is barely ever seen? It's no riddle — it's the marsupial mole!

These tiny, golden creatures like to burrow through the sands in central Australia, making the two species of marsupial mole (Notoryctes) almost impossible to find.

Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104

Featuring:

• Associate Professor Natalie Warburton, Murdoch University

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Jacinta Bowler, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

Stream the brand-new series Dr Ann's Secret Lives on ABC iview.

This tiny frog is pasty white, with big arms, a teeny head, and is — somehow — still absolutely adorable.

The turtle frog (Myobatrachus gouldii) can be found in a small part of south-west Western Australia.

They mostly live underground, and are one of only a few species of frog that burrow forwards instead of backwards.

Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104

Featuring:

• Dr Paul Doughty, Western Australian Museum

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Jacinta Bowler, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

Stream the brand-new series Dr Ann's Secret Lives on ABC iview.

They can travel over land, climb walls and take down large prey. And that's all before the short-finned eel (Anguilla australis) makes it out into the ocean for their epic migration to mate.

The location is so remote, scientists still don't know what happens while they're there.

But then, as new baby eels, they need to swim thousands of kilometres back to the Australian mainland — and only one in every 10,000 hatchings make it.

Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104

Featuring:

• Dr Wayne Koster, Arthur Rylah Institute

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Jacinta Bowler, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

Stream the brand-new series Dr Ann's Secret Lives on ABC iview.

Sure, it's a rat, but it's Australia's own cheeky little water rat!

The rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster) is Australia's largest rodent, and can be found in the waterways all around Australia.

Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104

Featuring:

• Emmalie Sanders, Charles Sturt University

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Jacinta Bowler, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

Stream the brand-new series Dr Ann's Secret Lives on ABC iview.