Whangarei Heads School EMR 2009

Whangarei Heads School took part in the EMR programme with Kim Boyle in Term 1, 2009. They've learnt about marine biodiversity in the classroom and practiced snorkeling in the pool. They put all those skills together when they visited Whangarei harbours new marine reserve at Reotahi where they experienced its unique marine biodiversity.

Here's a list of what they found:

Clown Nudibranchs
Oyster Borers
Paddle Crabs
Snapper
Cleaner Shrimps
EagleRays
Golf Ball Sponges
Purple Rock Crab
Leatherjackets
Squid
Goatfish
Parore
Kina
Spotties
Triplefins
Starfish
Seaweed
Oysters

They then got into some action planning with the key question "How can we help our local marine environment and/or marine reserve"? They also visited NZ's oldest marine reserve at Goat Island to check out what is possible. A couple of pics from the Goat Island trip below..............

Some absolutely excellent actions were produced from Whangarei Heads School. Students arranged and took part in a local beach cleanup, made a display about the local new marine reserve which they displayed at their local communities 'Funky Fishing Competition' and handed out boat stickers and cards to fishers showing the boundaries of the marine reserve. They got a full page spread in the local paper 'PlanetWatch' section about the Whangarei harbour marine reserve and created a lot of buzz and support amongst their local and wider community.

Whangarei Heads School EMR 2003

Whangarei Heads School was involved in the Experiencing Marine Reserves programme in 2003 with teacher Julianne Newbold.

We went snorkelling at Reotahi in the Whangarei Harbour and went on a day trip to Leigh marine reserve. Whangarei Heads School organised a fantastic marine conservation information evening for their parents and the community, which was attended by about 60 people.

The school presented their own power points (that they had put together during class time), as well as inviting special guest speakers such as Dr Roger Grace to talk about marine biodiversity and the Kamo High School seventh form geography class to talk about the Kamo High School's formal application to establish a marine reserve in the Whangarei Harbour.