Seaweek 2010

NZAEE Seaweek 2010 - Fish for the Future!

7-14 March 2010

“Tiakina ngā tupuranga whakaheke”

Seaweek is an annual event run by the NZ Association for Environmental Education that allows New Zealanders to come together and celebrate the sea. It provides a wide range of opportunities for people to learn about our fantastic marine environment and share their experiences of the sea.

Seaweek is about exciting and inspiring all New Zealanders to renew their connection with the sea. It’s not just for children or those involved with formal education – it’s a time for all of us to get to know our ocean, its habits, characteristics and inhabitants.

A series of themes has been developed for Seaweek over the next five years, starting with 2010 – Fish for the Future!

On this page:

Events in the Waikato

• Free evening lecture series - Changing coastlines: challenges and solutions 
• Juvenile coastal fish and their nursery habitats
• Lessons learnt from two decades of tsunami field surveys
• Sea level on the move?
• Increasing coastal community resilience
• Whaingaroa community and environment day
• Schedule
• Annual Xtreme recycled raft race
• Beach clean-ups
• Podcast competition
• Seaweek in schools
• Suggested Seaweek starters for the classroom
• Teacher resources

Useful links

Events in the Waikato

Free evening lecture series - Changing coastlines: challenges and solutions

This series of free evening lectures will offer local scientific and research-informed information about the threats to Waikato's coastlines and some of the actions that communities and local authorities can take about the damage to our coastlines and expected pressure in the future. This course in organised in collaboration with Environment Waikato and covers a broad range of challenges and solutions.

Dates

2, 4, 9, 11 March

Location for all lectures

AG.30, Gate 8 (off Hillcrest road), University of Waikato, Hamilton

Timetable

6:30-7pm : Doors open, cup of tea / beverage available in foyer
7pm-8pm Lecture and questions/answers.

Cost

Free!

Lecture 1 - Juvenile coastal fish and their nursery habitats

Presenters: Dr Mark Morrison (NIWA), Fred Lichtwark (Whaingaroa Harbour Care)

Date: Tuesday, 2 March

NIWA Fisheries Ecologist Dr Mark Morrison will be presenting findings from his recent research which he calls a significant breakthrough for scientists working on ways to maintain and potentially increase snapper and other fisheries stocks.

Snapper is New Zealand’s largest recreational fishery, and one of the country’s largest coastal commercial fisheries with an annual export value of $32 million (2008). But in recent years some stocks have failed to recover from historical overfishing, with some commercial catch quotas for snapper being cut recently to protect the species.

Dr Morrison will be discussing the findings from his research which show how fragile some New Zealand snapper and other coastal fish stocks could be, highlighting the importance of protecting natural habitats.

Presenting alongside Dr Morrison will be Fred Lichtwark, founder of Whaingaroa Harbourcare. Since 1995, Habourcare have grown and planted 1 million native trees along streams and harbour edges within the Whaingaroa catchment in Raglan, with the aim of stopping sediment runoff from land and improving water quality. Fred will be discussing his experience in revegetating and protecting Whaingaroa Harbour in an effort to save the harbours’ function as a fish nursery for present and future generations. Find out more about this workshop, and read on in a review of land-based effects on coastal fisheries and supporting biodiversity in New Zealand. 
 

Lecture 2 - Lessons learnt from two decades of tsunami field surveys

Presenters: Dr Jose Borerro (ASR.Ltd) and special guest Dr Emil Okal

Date: Thursday, 4 March 

Tsunami researchers Dr.Jose Borrero and Emile Okal have seen and studied the aftermaths of many tsunamis. Dr. Borrero  was one of the first to collect data in Banda Aceh after the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Professor Okal recently traveled to the most remote islands in Tonga to gather data from the September 2009 Samoa/Tonga tsunami.

The information gathered on these and other research trips dating back to the the early 1990's has led to a deeper understanding of tsunami inundation, tsunami source mechanisms and the overall hazards for coastal communities worldwide.

Dr. Borrero and Dr. Okal will share their experiences and lessons learnt from almost two decades of tsunami filed surveys, giving insights into tsunamis, and the study of them, that you'll likely not see anywhere else.

Dr. Borrero is a Senior Consultant with ASR Ltd. in Raglan, New Zealand and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Southern California Tsunami Research Center.  His research interests include tsunami field surveys, tsunami hazards and numerical modelling as well as applied coastal modelling and the design of erosion control structures.  Dr. Borrero has participated in numerous tsunami field surveys and led missions to Mexico (1996), Paua New Guinea (2002), Banda Aceh (2005) and Bengkulu, Sumatra (2007).

Dr. Okal is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.  He is renowned seismologist with a distinguished career in studying earthquakes.  He is the author of 200 publications in leading journals, Okal's research interests are in seismology, the structure of the Earth's interior, marine geosciences, volcanism, underwater acoustics, and tsunamis. He has led numerous international post-tsunami research teams, including those in French Polynesia (1999), Southern Peru (2001), Sumatra (2004), and Fjord Aysén, Chile (2007).  He was Editor of Geophysical Research Letters from 1993-1995, and Editor-in-Chief from 1996-1997.

Lecture 3 - Sea level on the move?

Presenters: Dr Rob Bell (NIWA), Dr Catherine Beard (EW)

Date: Tuesday, 9 March 

A well-cited consequence of global warming is sea-level rise. What evidence is there that this is happening? Sea level is always varying, but is it rising more now than it used to?

Dr Rob Bell will be giving an overview of sea-level rise and it's implications for New Zealand. Dr Bell is a coastal oceanographer with nearly 30 years experience consulting extensively on coastal & estuarine environmental projects particularly coastal hazards and the impacts of coastal climate change. Dr Bell recently co-authored "Preparing for climate change: A guide for local government in New Zealand" for the Ministry for the Environment.

Joining Dr Bell will be Dr Catherine Beard who will give an overview of a recent Environment Waikato pilot study that aims to help identify the potential impact of projected sea level rise on the extent and distribution of estuarine vegetation within Waikato estuaries. In particular, the report examines the potential influence of surrounding land uses on the response of estuarine vegetation to sea level rise.

Lecture 4 - Increasing coastal community resilience

Presenter: Jim Dahm (Eco Nomos Ltd)

Date: Thursday, 11 March 

The predicted effects of climate change including increased sea levels and more numerous and severe coastal storms will impact significantly on coastal communities. Coastal communities urgently need to develop the skills to better live with and adapt to coastal change, if existing trends are to be reversed and these communities are to become resilient and sustainable in the face of climate change.

Jim will talk about coastal erosion and the opportunities to better adapt to this natural process by working with nature. He will also discuss the role of natural buffers such as dunes and provide examples of how communities are restoring these natural features to improve their resilience to coastal hazards and climate change.

This talk is part of series of free workshops are being run throughout the whole country with the aim of empowering coastal communities to better understand and manage their beaches and dunes systems, and to raise awareness of the likely effects of climatic change along their coast.

Jim Dahm is a coastal scientist who specialises in coastal management with over 25 years work experience in this area. He has extensive experience with coastal restoration, coastal hazard management, and estuarine areas. He works extensively with community facilitation and planning.

Whaingaroa community and environment day 

Date: Saturday 6 March
Location: Te Kopua domain, Raglan
Organizer: Xtreme Waste/Raglan Community House/Whaingaroa Environment Centre
Contact: Lindsey Turner, Xtreme Waste, ph. 07 825 6509

Schedule

Annual Xtreme recycled raft race - in celebration of Xtreme Waste's 10th birthday

All rafts must float, be made out of recycled materials, crew must wear lifejackets. Registration is before 12noon and the race starts at 1.30pm.

Check out some fabulous prizes below!

Best Recycled Raft and Best Dressed Crew - $400 to the winner and $200 to the runner up.
Fastest Recycled Raft - $200 to the winner.  
 
We are looking for something that will stand out and wow the judges.
 
There will also be great prizes for runner ups, best dressed crew, best message, most entertaining, best effort, best newcomer, junior racer, and for just entering.

Cash prizes are sponsored by Xtreme Waste, Ray White and Black Sand Café. There are a huge range of other prizes donated by local businesses. You have to be in to win!

Beach clean-ups

Dates: 8-19 March

Each year more than 7 billion tonnes of rubbish makes its way into the sea. On its journey it kills, maims and injures wildlife and pollutes the ecosystems that they depend on for food, shelter, and to raise their young. Thousands of animals die each year becoming trapped in or choke on the rubbish that we throw away.

Litter can travel to the ocean from many kilometres inland, blown on the wind or carried along by rivers and streams.

In response to this major issue, Environment Waikato is working with schools around the Waikato region to run beach clean-ups and help make our beaches not only safer for our marine species but also restore the natural character of these special places.

Beach clean-ups will be happening for two weeks, starting Monday 8 March. Beaches being cleaned include Buffalo and Whangapoua in the Coromandel, and Kawhia, Ruapuke, Raglan, and Kariotahi on the west coast.

Podcast competition

Date: Entries must be received at Coromandel FM by 4 PM, Friday 12 March 2010

Young storytellers between the ages of 5 and 15 (inclusive) will have the chance to make a 60-second audio podcast about their Seaweek activity and enter the competition to have the best podcast broadcast on Coromandel FM and hosted on TCDC’s website!

You can make it by yourself, with friends, with your class or your whole school - as long as everyone involved is between the ages of 5 and 15!

Your podcast must incorporate the theme “Fish for the Future”. Full details will be posted on the TCDC website soon, but until then you’ve got time to plan what you’re going to do when you enter the competition in the first week of March!

For more details, please visit:
http://www.tcdc.govt.nz/Media/Seaweek2/

Seaweek in schools

Seaweek in the classroom is about encouraging students of all ages to think about the importance of looking after the marine environment and thinking of ways – no matter how small – to take positive actions to enhance it. In 2010 this positive action focuses on fishing sustainably.

For multi level, cross curricular ideas for celebrating NZAEE Seaweek, please visit www.seaweek.org.nz.

Suggested Seaweek starters for the classroom

• Have students identify all the (component) parts that make up our marine environment.
• Identify the seas that surround our country. Remind students that if we travel overseas we have to cross these oceans. How do/did we cross them – both in the past and present. Older students can research the effect oceans have on our weather – particularly our rainfall.
• Think about and discuss the relationship we have with the sea, what it means to them and how people use and appreciate the sea , for example fish and shellfish, sport and recreation.
• Brainstorm, research and list the thousands and thousands  of creatures who call the sea and marine environment home.
• Investigate food chains in the sea. What are the consequences for sea creatures and for us if these food chains are broken?
• How can we prevent polluting the sea and what are the consequences. How can we help look after a local marine environment, river, coastal area, stream or wetland?
• Make comparisons between different marine environments such as the deep ocean, high tide line, rocky shore, beach. What lives in these areas?
• Take a rocky shore field study trip – include beach clean-up.
• Identify where our marine reserves are. How can people use these reserves to interact with the marine environment?

Teacher resources

Coasts and us 

Life’s a Beach

Useful links

www.seaweek.org.nz
www.seafoodindustry.co.nz/education
www.kcc.org.nz/educators/marinereserves.asp
www.kcc.org.nz/educators/seashore/index.asp
www.treasuresofthesea.org.nz/
www.fish.govt.nz > select starfish
www.www.emr.org.nz/