Tourism Queensland has named British candidate Ben Southhall the new caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. Southall fended off 15 other contenders at the final stage and 34,000 applicants worldwide.
The former charity worker will receive $150,000 to take care of the islands over six-month contract. His duties include ‘feeding the fish’, ‘cleaning the pool’ and ‘collecting the mail’. However, his key responsibilities will be to explore the area as much as possible and record his experiences via video and photo diary, and update a weekly blog.
The job campaign has generated about $110 million worth of global publicity for Tourism Queensland.
Southall will begin his contract on July 1.
