One of the students had taken part in the EMR programme as an intermediate school student!  She remembers the EMR classroom talk with all the treasures and how many snorkels she went on.  She says her EMR kicked off her interest in snorkeling and was glad to be involved in the programme again as an older student. She wrote a submission in support of the Whangarei Harbour Marine Reserve back in 2002 and continues to support marine reserves today.

WGHS students learnt about marine biodiversity and reserves in the classroom before venturing out to experience the newly established Whangarei Harbour marine reserve at Motukaroro.  Here students saw some of the reserve’s unique marine life as well as some kina barren areas where kina had been eating away at the kelp forest.  Kelp forests are like the rainforests of the sea – without them, many species are without sufficient food or habitat.

Students then went down to New Zealand’s oldest marine reserve at Goat Island where they saw how the reserve had allowed the return of large snapper and crayfish and large kina barren areas to recover into highly productive kelp forests.

WGHS is planning on setting up a monitoring programme at Motukaroro. 

WGHS students and teachers presented their findings to education Minister Steve Maharey at an Education for Enterprise presentation at their school, and also to teachers attending a Northland Regional Council teacher’s workshop on the Whangarei Harbour.