Meet the passionate, dedicated people that make up our team. Envirohub Marlborough Structure "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has!" Margaret Mead Our Envirohub Marlborough Whanau Nina Kay General Manager Growing up in South Africa and enjoying countless family adventures in the African bush, Nina developed a deep passion for conservation and sustainability. She brought her expertise in environmental science and regional spatial planning to Aotearoa 8 years ago, with a strong belief that real change begins in our own communities. Within Envirohub Marlborough, Nina loves working across projects and building on collaborations that drive positive environmental outcomes. /In her down time, you'll find her exploring the great outdoors and embarking on new adventures with her family. Sara Kidston Zero Waste Coordinator & Litter Intelligence Born in Scotland and raised in New Zealand, Sara is passionate about preserving our wonderfully diverse environment, and is honoured to be stepping into the role of Zero Waste Coordinator for Envirohub Marlborough! Sara has personal interests in natural living, permaculture, and physical movement, and comes from a diverse background firmly rooted in the performing arts sector. Tash Luxton Funding Manager CKNZ Coordinator Our Networks & Collaborations

Learn about our beautiful taonga species, the Tūpoupou Hector's Dolphins and check out our games, activities, arts and crafts and how you can better protect them! Waiharakeke ~ Grass Skink Oligosoma aff. polychroma Clade 3 This skink was formally kn own as the "Common S kink" - because it was just that, common! The common skink has now been separated into 5 different species, one of which is our local Waiharakeke (Marlborough) Grass Skink. Image credit: South Marlborough grass skink (Kaikōura). © Samuel Purdie These little skinks are found not only in South Marlborough but also in small areas of the wider Marlborough Region. They grow up to 80mm long and their tail is longer than their body! Waiharakeke Grass Skink Facts! General Image Credit - Tony Jewell ACTIVITIES, CRAFTS, GAMES AND QUIZZES Throughout this page you'll find some fun activities and resources you can explore at home with your whānau and friends. Some of these resources have been put together with the help of our fantastic local organisations. A huge thank you to those people who have helped put these together for us, we appreciate your support! Don't forget to share your activities with us, either tag us on social media or email them to us at conservationkids@envirohub.co.nz Image Credit - Alexander Turnbull Library, Albert Percy Godber Collection (PA-Group-00048) Reference: PAColl-3039-1-012 Ngārara was the Māori kupu | word for all reptiles, Māori called both lizards and skinks Mokomoko. All Ngārara were seen as descendants of Punga - the son of Tangaroa, the sea guardian. All of the decendants of Punga were seen as ugly and repulsive. Lizards and geckos were often feared, linking them with Whiro, the atua of darkness, evil and death. Even though Māori feared them, they also thought of them as guardians, they were put near burial caves to watch over those who had passed away. Waiharakeke Grass Skink Facts! Te Ao Maori - Art - Colour a Skink Colour your Skink Waiharakeke Grass Skinks have some pretty neat colors and patterns on them. Have a go at colou ring in our own skink, see if you can create those vibrant colors and markings. Don't forget to share your finished creation with us, email us an image - conservationkids@envirohub.co.nz Click the image to download a PDF template. Waiharakeke Grass Skink Facts! Ecology & Diet Waiharakeke Grass skinks are heliothermic, which means they like to lay in the sun to gain their heat. They eat a wide diet of not only berries and fruits, but they also hunt prey like spiders and other small insects. Image Credit - Tom Heather CRAFT - Skink Puppet Make a Skink Puppet Have fun making your very own skink finger p uppet! Get creative with the colours and decide what kind of habitat / environment your skink lives in! Click the image to download the PDF sheet! Image Credit - Tim Harker Just like other grass skinks, the Waiharakeke Grass skink likes to live in open areas including coastal vegetation, rock piles, grassland, flaxland, shrubland, screes, forest margins, tussock and modified urban / suburban habitats. Often, they can be found hiding under rocks and logs. They can be found in the eastern parts of the Marlborough Sounds, in Kaikoura and in the Wairau Valley. Waiharakeke Grass Skink Facts! Habitat Waiharakeke Grass Skink Facts! Breeding The Waiharakeke grass skink matures at around two years old, it is then that the female goes on to breed. Female skinks can give birth to up to six babies at one time! Wow that is a lot, this normally happens in the warmer months in January and February. Image Credit - Tom Heather ACTIVITY - Who's, Who? Skink or Gecko Test your knowledge and see if you can work out what is a skink and what is a gecko? Use your research skills and see what you can find out about each of them. Click the image to download the quiz! Click the skink to download the answers. Did you know that skinks - including the Waiharakeke Grass skink - can amputate their own tails! They do this to help them escape predators, the predators can be distracted by the wiggling tail while the skink gets to safety. But don't worry they do grow back, just not as long as the orginal tail. Waiharakeke Grass Skink Facts! Crazy Facts! Other Waiharakeke Grass Skink Resources Below you will find links to other Skink resources, click the images to take you to the websites. Check them out! Department of Conservation Information on skinks online Reptiles and Amphibians of NZ by Dyland van Winkel Science Learning Hub | Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao Check out this cool video of a skink giving birth to its live young. DOC - Toyota Kiwi Guardian Activity Help attract Geckos and Skinks to your garden ! Although the Toyota Kiwi Guardian programme has now f inished and you can no longer claim the medals. The act ivities are still a fantastic way for your tamariki to help support our conservation efforts and to learn abou t native species. Below is a link to the "Lizard Lounge" activity! Help create a home at your place for our local lizards to hang out! Click the image to download a PDF Instruction sheet to learn how to attract Lizards to your garden! Waiharakeke Grass Skink Facts! Threats So, what are the biggest threats to our native skinks? Habitat disruption has had a big impact on them, but what do we mean by 'disruption'? Anything that effects their normal habitat, this could be things like the introduction of non-native species, like cats and dogs. It could also mean people planting nonnative plants or grasses into their environment. And of course, the damage to their habitat from people either exploring or altering where they live. So, what can we do to help? Follow below to find out!! Image Credit - Make Lemonade Webiste Image Credit - Tony Jewell How can you help our Native Skinks and Geckos? There are lots of ways you can help our native skinks to survive! - Avoid catching them, it's ok to look but please don't touch them, and if you do lift a rock to spot one. DO NOT DROP THE ROCK BACK DOWN as this might squash the little skink, just place it down gently. - Keep your cats inside at nighttime and put a bell on their collars to warn the skink of their presence. - Plant native trees or shrubs around your land that they like to live in, and avoid planting non-natives if possible. Waiharakeke Grass Skink Facts! What YOU can do! If you see a skink on eggs or eggs like this ---> Please get rid of these eggs, these are plague skink eggs. Our NZ native skinks give birth to live young, they do NOT lay eggs. Plague skinks are a threat to our native skinks because they take over their habitat and push them out. Leaving our native skinks with nowhere to live. One important thing you can do is always check your belongings for skink eggs. If you are moving house from an area you know has the plague skinks, check your belongings especially your outdoor gear for skink eggs, make sure you don't move them with you into a new area. Image Credit - Forest and Bird Visit a Waiharakeke Grass Skink Why not check out some areas near you to see if you can spot some skinks? Can you find some native ones? Or do you have plague skinks where you live? Head on over to the DOC website to read about the different skinks and see where they like to live. You can get an idea of where they might live in your area, then head out for a look. If you live in Marlborough/Blenheim, you can find Waiharakeke grass skinks at these places; - Marfells Beach - Rarangi Beach - Wither Hills Just remember if you're heading out on a skink hunt, make sure you don't disturb their habitat. If you lift a rock up to look under it, DO NOT DROP THE ROCK BACK DOWN, make sure you place it back down softly so as not to hurt the skinks, geckos or other species you might find. Waiharakeke Grass Skink Gallery Images from our most recent Skink event 2023 Waiharakeke Grass Skink Day

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Learn about our beautiful taonga species, the Hamupēke | Humpback Whale and check out our games, activities, arts and crafts and how you can better protect them! Hamupēke Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) Humpback Whales are oft en found in our waters around Aotearoa during their annual migrations. These incredible mammals like to sometimes put on a show! Follow along to learn all about the humpback whale and how you might spot one out in our ocean. Humpback whales like to put on great displays and can often been seen breaching (jumping) out of the water. They are easy to identify by their very distinctive hump in front of a small dorsal fin. They also have extremely long pectoral fins (up to 1/3 of their body length!) and a broad fluke (tail). The marks on a humpbacks tail are unique to each humpback - like fingerprints are to a human. You can use these marking to help identify individual humpback whales! Hamupēke Facts! General ACTIVITIES, CRAFTS, GAMES AND QUIZZES Throughout this page you'll find some fun activities and resources you can explore at home with your whānau and friends. Some of these resources have been put together with the help of our fantastic local organisations. A huge thank you to those people who have helped put these together for us, we appreciate your support! Don't forget to share your activities with us, either tag us on social media or email them to us at conservationkids@envirohub.co.nz Image Credit - Andrea Izzotti Some tribes see whales as the descendants of Tangaroa, the god of the ocean. Whales possess a tapu (sacred) significance to Maori as both supernatural beings and as harbingers of personal change and spiritual growth. When whales appeared on long journeys by waka across the Pacific ocean, they were seen as a sign that the iwi should settle in that place. They were also seen as benevolent guardians when they swam alongside the waka, guiding the way through tumultuous Pacific storms towards the safety of land. Hamupēke Facts! Te Ao Maori Art - Create a Whale's Tail Create a Whale's Tail Whale Tails/Flukes are all differe nt and can be used to help identify individual whales. Have a go at creating your own unique patte rn for your own whale's fluke. Click the image to download the PDF! Hamupēke / Humpback whales feed on mostly small organisms such as tiny crustaceans called krill and even small fish. Humpback's have baleen plates in their mouth, these are large rows of keratin plates similar to human hair or fingernails. They filter feed by taking huge gulps, then filtering the water out leaving only the yummy crustaceans and fish behind to swallow. Click on this image to watch a video on how some humpback whales use bubble netting to feed! Hamupēke Facts! Ecology & Diet Image -Credit - Unknown CRAFT - Hamupēke Snacks Hamupēke Snacks Have some fun making an upcycled humpback whale from a toilet roll! Don't forget his baleen (instead of teeth) do you know what they made of in real life? Give your Hamupēke a name and make him some tasty snacks. This craft is to show how the large baleen plates in a humpback's mouth help to catch all their food! Don't forget to share your Hamupēke with us we would love to know its name. Click the image to download the PDF sheet! Image - Creator: Sean Steininger | Credit: Shutterstocki Hamupēke live all over the world - there are 14 distinct populations worldwide. The humpback whales we often see around the shores of NZ are from the Oceania population. Humpbacks are great migrators, traveling up to 16,000km each year! They like to feed in the colder Antarctic waters and migrate to warmer tropical waters for breeding and giving birth. You can often spot them migrating past NZ in the cooler months of June and July as they head north. Hamupēke Facts! Habitat Hamupēke GAMES Grab some of your friends or whānua and have a go at these fun Hamupēke games and activites. How Baleen Works This activity aim s to demonstrate how baleen plates work and how whales uses them to eat. Click on the image to download the instructions. If you give this game a go with your class or some friends take a pic or video a nd share it with us! How Long is a Hamupēke This activity aim s to demonstrate how larg e/long a humpback whale is. Get your friends and family toge ther, line up and visualize the length of a Humpback whale! Click on the image t o download the instructions. Image Credit - Unknown Humpback whales give birth to live young, just like us humans. A baby whale is called a calf. Whale calves are born tail first, then the mother guides the calf to the water surface for it to take its first breath. They suckle on their mum's milk which is rich and thick. The mother squirts the milk into the calf's mouth. Female Humpbacks only produce a calf every 2-3 years. Hamupēke Facts! Breeding ACTIVITY - Test Your Knowledge Test your knowledge - Parts of a Humpback Whale Have a go at testing your knowledge see how many parts of the whale you can name. Click on the image below to download the quiz and have a go. See how many you can answer! Click the image to download the quiz! Click the Humpback to download the answers. Ever wonder how the Humpback whale stays warm while swimming in the freezing water down in Antarctica ?? Well they have blubber - a fatty substance below their skin that helps to keep them warm. Check out this neat video from SciShow Kids that demonsrates how blubber works. Have a go at it your self - Did the blubber keep your hand warm? Don't forget to send us in a photo of you testing this out, we would love to hear all about your experiment. Hamupēke Facts! Crazy Facts! Other Hamupēke / Humpback Whale Resources Below you will find links to other Hamupēke resources, click the images to take you to the websites. Check them out! The Sea Swallow and the Humpbackwhale by Catherine Barr The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimarea Department of Conservation For more Humpback whale information click the image NOAA Fisheries For more Humpback information click the image Whale and Dolphin Conservation Become a whale guardian with WDC, check out their fun online digital progamme for kids. DOC - Toyota Kiwi Guardian Activity Help look after the humpback whales becoming a water champion! Although the Toyota Kiwi Guardian programme has now finished and you can no longer claim the medals. The activates are still a fantastic way for your tamariki to help support our conservation and native species. Below is a link to the "Water Champion" activity! Help to clean up a water way or coastline near you. Then take action to help protect it. Click the image to download a PDF Instruction sheet to learn how to become a Water Champion! Image Credit - Envirohistory NZ Historically, the biggest threat to our Humpback whales has been whaling, with this intensifying in the late 18th century up until 1965. Humpbacks were hunted in NZ waters, with hunters taking advantage of the migration seasons. Between 1911 and 1965, 4500 whales (mostly humpbacks) were caught in the Tory Channel alone. In 1965 the whaling industry collapsed with the whales had been hunted close to extinction. Since then, NZ has made large efforts to help protect our whales and help bring the numbers back. Whaling is now illegal in NZ waters, but there are still threats: plastic pollution and large boat strike are some of the biggest threats to our humpback whales today. Check out the next Hamupēke Fact to find out how you can help! Hamupēke Facts! Threats Hamupēke Facts! What YOU can do! So... How can you help protect our whales? Glad you asked! Firstly, help to reduce our plastic waste. Plastic can end up in our oceans and harm not only our whales but other marine species. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse and Rot where possible! Keep an eye out for a beach cleanup near you and lend a helping hand. Image Credit - Envirohub Beach Clean Up event Image Credit - Department of Conservation NZ Act safely on the water around Humpacks When out on a boat there are ways you can safely observe any marine life you come across, especially whales and other marine mammals. Click HERE to learn how you can safely share our coast lines with our beautiful taonga of the ocean. Visit a Hamupēke - Humpback Whale Southern Humpbacks migrate past NZ on their way to the warmer waters of the Pacific to breed. One hot-spot to see them as they migrate is in Kaikōura . You can hop on a whale watch tour in hopes of seeing one from the water, or find a high vantage point somewhere along the coast and try your luck at spotting! Remember, anywhere in the world that you join a tour or wildlife experience, make sure you do your research and ensure the experience is ethical and have the animal's best interests in mind! KORI's annual Great Kaikoura Whale Count Each winter, around June/July, the Kaikōura Ocean Research Institute holds an annual whale count, where they count as many whales migrating past Kaikōura as they can, with a focus on the humpbacks. You can even vol unteer to head along and help them out and be a part of the action! Click on the KORI logo above to go to their website and find out more. Sadly in 2023 they did not receive the funding needed to carry out the whale coun, but you can still head along yourself and have a go at spotting some whales from the shore. A good spot to take your binoculars and try your hand at spotting whales is from the top of Kaikōura peninsular track. Whale Blow Identification Have a go at identifying some whale's from the shore - different whales have unique blows when they come to the surface for air. This chart will show you how to identify what whale you have spotted from their blow or other distinctive features - e.g. humpback whales have a distinctive round shape to their blow. Click on the image to the right to download the instructions from DOC. Hamupēke / Humpback Whale Gallery Images from some of our Humpback Whale events 2023 Humpback Whale Day

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Kaipupu Sanctuary Dec 2018 Our very first ever trip for our Pelours Members to the wild life sanctuary Our first ever trip as a Pelorous group back in 2018, we headed out to Kaipupu Wildlife Sanctuary just a 10min boat ride out of Picton. Andrew from Forest and Bird talk to the kids about different pests and traps and about some native birds in Picton before heading out to the wild life sanctuary by boat to explore! Andrew showed us all around the sanctuary, explaining the predator fence and showing how it works. The kids played games and explored the sanctuary, such a fantastic day!!

We can help you recycle a number of hard to recycle items from bottle caps to batteries to toothpaste tubes and more. About Us Get Involved Zero Waste Conservation Kids NZ Community Garden Marine Conservation Zoe's Fund More... Collection Point Recycling Did you know Envirohub Marlborough is a collection point for numerous recycling programs? Although we would prefer everyone to choose reusable items first and foremost, we also love initiatives like these that recycle and then reuse! Feel free to drop any of the items at our Recycle Collection Point in Picton. PICTON Mariners Mall High Street, Picton Open Business Hours Items collected: All items listed below! DOWNLOAD POSTER - CLICK HERE Thank you for actioning the 5 R's Rethink - Refuse - Reduce - Reuse - Recycle Aluminium Can Tabs & Aluminium Wine Bottle Caps 'Kan Tabs for Kids' goes towards supporting the families of children on dialysis, and is the largest nationwide Lions Club project. The tabs and caps are collected in their thousands, and packaged before being sent to metal merchants for weighing and payment. A single cap works out to the equivalent of one second on dialysis. Metal Recycling Beer Bottle Caps Beer bottle caps can be recycled for scrap metal and made in to new products. Awesome! Used Good Nature Gas Canisters These are made of recycled and recyclable steel. Picton Dawn Chorus collects these once used and takes them to a local facility to be melted down and used again. Battery Recycling 2026 Update: Please drop these to the Picton Transfer Station on Gravesend Place, Picton. Help keep toxic and hazardous waste from going to landfill. Drop off your household batteries here for recycling! Batteries accepted include: powertools, mobile phones, laptops, cordless phones, hearing aides, watches, batteries, cameras and, of course, your regular household batteries! Colgate oral care goods Toothbrushes, Toothpaste Tubes, Floss and Mouthwash Containers Drop off Colgate brand only oral care waste and Envirohub Marlborough will send them to TerraCycle to be made in to new recycled products. Please remove all toothpaste and floss from the countainers and recycle the cardboard packaging in your recycling bin. Clean Used Razor Blades - ANY Brand! You can drop your clean used blades into Envirohub Marlborough and we will package them correctly and send them back to Caliwoods for repurposing or recycling. Product Stewardship at it's finest! Wool Pouches from Bargain Box/My Food Bag We would love to collect the wool pouches that keep food cool in the meal box deliveries. This wool pouch can go in your garden or compost but Picton Dawn Chorus is collecting them to cover new native seedlings. Please save them up for us and drop them off in the Mariners Mall. Thank you! Old Mobile / Cell Phones We are a drop off location for RE:MOBILE recycling for mobile phones. The phones are recycled or refurbished by RE :MOBILE and the profits are donated to Sustainable Coastlines. For more information visit https://remobile.org.nz/

Learn about our beautiful taonga species, the Tohorā | Southern Right Whale and check out our games, activities, arts and crafts and how you can better protect them! Tohorā Southern Right Whales (Eubalaena australis) Southern Right Whales are found throughout the Southern Hemisphere and are a native migrant to New Zealand. They are typically black in colour, have large paddle-shaped flippers and have a large head covered in callosities. Follow along to learn more about Tohorā below. Southern Right Whales are slow swimmers and also very acrobatic! They are easy to identify by their unique callosities on their heads. Callosities are large, white, rough growths that can be made up of parasitic worms, whale lice and barnacles. The callosities on a southern right are unique to each southern right making them easy to identify and track their movements. They also has a unique V blow, with the water rising in two columns to a height of 5m. Tohorā Facts! General ACTIVITIES, CRAFTS, GAMES AND QUIZZES Throughout this page you'll find some fun activities and resources you can explore at home with your whānau and friends. Some of these resources have been put together with the help of our fantastic local organisations. A huge thank you to those people who have helped put these together for us, we appreciate your support! Don't forget to share your activities with us, either tag us on social media or email them to us at conservationkids@envirohub.co.nz Image Credit - Andrea Izzotti Some tribes see whales as the descendants of Tangaroa, the god of the ocean. Whales possess a tapu (sacred) significance to Maori as both supernatural beings and as harbingers of personal change and spiritual growth. When whales appeared on long journeys by waka across the Pacific ocean, they were seen as a sign that the iwi should settle in that place. They were also seen as benevolent guardians when they swam alongside the waka, guiding the way through tumultuous Pacific storms towards the safety of land. Tohorā Facts! Te Ao Maori Art - Create Whale Watching Binoculars Binoculars Have fun making your own whale watching binoculars. Go out and explore the coastline and see what you can spot in the sea. Click the image to download the PDF! Tohorā Facts! Ecology & Diet Southern Rights feed on zooplankton in the cold nutrient-rich Southern Ocean. They are skim feeders and swim with their mouths open for long periods of time, filtering krill and plankton through their baleen plates. Baleen plates are made of keratin, the same substance which makes up our hair or fingernails. CRAFT - Tohorā Snacks Southern Right's Snacks Have some fun making an upcycled southern right whale from paper roll! Don't forget her baleen! Give your whale a name and make her some tasty snacks. This craft is to show how the large baleen plates in a baleen whale's mouth help to catch all their food! Don't forget to share your Tohorā with us, we would love to know its name. Click the image to download the PDF sheet! Tohorā live and migrate in the Southern Ocean. They are found in the South Atlantic between June and December. They migrate from the icy Southern Ocean to their breeding grounds in the South Atlantic along the African coastline. Click on the image to watch a video about how a group of Southern Right whales were discovered again in New Zealand, at the brink of extinction. Tohorā Facts! Habitat Tohorā GAMES Grab some of your friends or whānua and have a go at these fun Tohorā games and activities. How Baleen Works This activity aim s to demonstrate how baleen plates work and how whales uses them to eat. Click on the image to download the instructions. If you give this game a go with your class or some friends take a pic or video a nd share it with us! How Long is a Southern Right? This activity aim s to demonstrate how larg e/long a southern right is. Get your friends and family toge ther, using the cards, measure out and compare the different sizes of baleen whales and toothed marine mammals. Click on the image t o download the fact cards. Southern Right whales are mammals and give birth to live young, just like us humans. A baby whale is called a calf. Females usually give birth to their first calf when they are eight to ten years old. Female Southern Rights only produce a calf every 3-5 years. Tohorā Facts! Breeding ACTIVITY - Baleen whale or Toothed marine mammal? Test your knowledge - download the cards below and see if you can guess which are baleen whales and which are toothed marine mammals. Click the image to download the cards! Ever wonder how the Southern Right Whales stays warm while swimming in the cold waters of the Southern Ocean ?? Well they have blubber - a fatty substance below their skin that helps to keep them warm. Check out this neat video from SciShow Kids that demonstrates how blubber works. Have a go at it your self - Did the blubber keep your hand warm? Tohorā Facts! Crazy Facts! Other Southern Right Whale Resources Below you will find links to other Tohorā resources, click the images to take you to the websites. Check them out! NOAA Fisheries For more Tohorā information click the image below. Tohorā The Southern Right Whale by Ned Barraud Department of Conservation For more Southern Right whale information click the DOC image below. Southern Right Whales were hunted to near extinction in the 18-1900s. In 1920 there were only 400 left on the planet. The Souhthern Right whale gets it name from being the "right" whale to hunt. This was because they are so slow moving and are very buoyant in the water. Since whaling become illegal in NZ in 1978, NZ has made large efforts to help protect our whales and help bring the numbers back. Current threats to Tohorā include: predators, climate change, net entanglement, large boat strikes and ocean pollution. Check out the next Tohorā Fact to find out how you can help! Tohorā Facts! Threats Tohorā Facts! What YOU can do! So... How can you help protect our whales? Glad you asked! Firstly, help to reduce our plastic waste. Plastic can end up in our oceans and harm not only our whales but other marine species. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse and Rot where possible! Keep an eye out for a beach cleanup near you and lend a helping hand. Image Credit - Envirohub Beach Clean Up event What can you do if you see a stranded whale? Reduce plastic use! If you'd like to be prepared to help in a whale stranding you can attend Marine Mammal Medic Course run by Project Jonah. Click HERE to find out what DOC does when there is a stranding. Image Credit - Department of Conservation NZ Act safely on the water around marine mammals When out on a boat there are ways you can safely observe any marine life you come across, especially whales and other marine mammals. Click HERE to learn how you can safely share our coast lines with our beautiful taonga of the ocean. Go Spot a Southern Right! KORI's annual Great Kaikoura Whale Count Each winter, around June/July, the Kaikōura Ocean Research Institute holds an annual whale count, where they count as many whales migrating past Kaikōura as they can. You can even vol unteer to head along and help them out and be a part of the action! Click on the KORI logo alongside to go to their website and find out more. Tohorā Whale Gallery Images from our Southern Right Whale events 2024 Whale Day

Learn about our beautiful taonga species, the Tuna | NZ Eel and check out our games, activities, arts and crafts and how you can better protect them! Tuna ~ NZ Eels (Longfin eel - Anguilla dieffenbachii , Shortfin eel -Anguilla australis) We have two unique species of eel here in Aotearoa, the long fin and the short fin eel. We do have a third eel called the spotted eel but they are a visitor from Australia and not native to NZ. Follow along to find out more about our two native eels and how you can tell them apart. The NZ short fin eel is the more common eel that you will find in our waterways in lowland Marlborough. The long fin eels which can only be found in NZ are less common and are designated 'at risk' which means that we need to protect them otherwise they may go extinct in the future. Tuna - Eel Facts! General ACTIVITIES, CRAFTS, GAMES AND QUIZZES Throughout this page you'll find some fun activities and resources you can explore at home with your whānau and friends. Some of these resources have been put together with the help of our fantastic local organisations. A huge thank you to those people who have helped put these together for us, we appreciate your support! Don't forget to share your activities with us, either tag us on social media or email them to us at conservationkids@envirohub.co.nz Story by Basil Keane Main image: ‘Catching the legendary eel at Tangahoe’ The Māori word Tuna means eel, to Māori people tuna once was a vital food source. Māori would build weirs or hīnaki – eel pots to capture the tuna. Then the tuna would be wrapped in leaves to cook on a fire. Many Māori still capture tuna using traditional methods today. Tuna Eel Facts! Te Ao Maori Art - Make an Eel Awareness P oster Eel Awareness Poster Have a go at making a T una/Eel Awareness Poster! Spread the word on protecting our eels. Get creative making an eel awareness poster with a special message on how to protect our local eels. You could add a fun slogan like - "Be aware eels live here." "Plant the banks, the eels say thanks." "Keep it clear, eels migrate here." "Coming through! Make way for the eels!" See what other fun slogans you can come up with, add some great colour and see where you can display your poster around your neighborhood. Don't forget to share your poster with us, email us an image - conservationkids@envirohub.co.nz Click the image to watch the video! How to Draw a Tuna / Eel Check out this video on how to draw a NZ Longfin Eel by Auckland Zoo! Why not have a go at drawing your own eel - make sure you share your drawing with us! We would love to see it. Tuna - Eel Facts! Ecology & Diet Eels like to eat live food, when they are smaller they will snack on worms, insect larvae, and even snails found in the water. As they grow and get bigger, they will eat small fish, freshwater crayfish and even ducklings! Image Credit - chameleonseye CRAFT - Tuna / Eel Puppet Make a Tuna/Eel Puppet Have fun making your own eel finger puppet, give your puppet its own unique look. You can take your eel puppet on the great eel migration game with you. Click the image to download the PDF sheet! Image Creator: Antonia O'Donnell Eels can be found all throughout NZ in the rivers, lakes and wetlands across the country. Young Elver eels are great climbers and will make their way up waterfalls, creeks and even through dams to find a place to settle. You will often spot eels poking their heads out of cracks and holes in river banks. Tuna - Eel Facts! Habitat Tuna / Eel GAMES Grab some of your friends or whānau and have a go at these fun Tuna/Eel games and activites. Great Tuna/Eel Migration Tuna/Eel make a great migration only twice in their life, learn about this migration and have fun migrating as eels yourself. There are 3 parts to this rawe | awesome game. Click on the image to download the instructions and resources needed to play . If you give this game a go with your class or some friends take a pic or video and share it with us! Fun tip - make the eel puppet first and take it on a migration. Tuna - Eel Facts! Breeding Did you know that eels only breed once in their lifetime!! Eels migrate to Tonga at the end of their life to breed. When an eel is reaching the end of their life, they will make their way to the warm Pacific Ocean where they will lay millions of eggs in one go ready for the male eel to fertilise. Image Credit - NIWA ACTIVITY - Tuna / Eel Facts Tuna/Eel Facts Test your knowledge, how many t una/eel facts can you answer? you might have to do some research to answer all the questions - good luck! Click the image to download the quiz! Click the eel to download the answers. Did you know that our long fin eels can live up to 100yrs old!! Wow that is old!! The short fin eel lives up to about 60yrs old. Some of the long fin eels you can see at Lake Rotoiti are over 100yrs old!! They are so big! - Have you been to visit them? Tuna - Eel Facts! Crazy Facts! Image Credit - Antonia O'Donnell Other Tuna / NZ Eel Resources Below you will find links to other Tuna/Eel resources, click the images to take you to the websites. Check them out! Tamariki for Tuna Resources by Conservation Volunteers NZ. Department of Conservation Information on the website regarding eels . Science Learning Hub Great reading and resources on the Science learning hub for tamariki. DOC - Toyota Kiwi Guardian Activity Help look after the Tuna/Eels by becoming a water champion! Although the Toyota Kiwi Guardian programme has now f inished and you can no longer claim the medals. The acti vities are still a fantastic way for your tamariki to help support conservation efforts and help our native species. Below is a link to the "Water Champion" activity! Help to clean up a water way or coastline near you. Then take action to help protect it. Click the image to download a PDF Instruction sheet to learn how to become a Water Champion! Tuna - Eel Facts! Threats The longfin eel is endemic to NZ, meaning it can only be found here in Aotearoa and nowhere else in the world. It is also classed at 'At Risk - Declining', which means we need to help protect them!! So, what is putting our Longfin eel at risk? Humans are the biggest threat to the long fin eel, human activities such as pollution, the building of dams, taking away vegetation near their habitats, and overfishing have had detrimental impacts on our endangered tuna. So what can we do to help? Read below to find out!! Image Credit - Otago Muesum Image Credit - Antonia O'Donnell How can you help out Tuna / Longfin Eel? There are lots of ways you can help our longfin eels to survive! - Avoid catching them. If you catch one in your hīnaki then be sure to set it free unharmed. - Fence streams on your property to keep animals and livestock out. - Plant trees or shrubs on banks of streams to help create shade and hiding spots for tuna. - Don't let pollution in to the waterways. - Help with rubbish clean ups around our waterways. Why not see what planting projects are happening in your community? Head along and lend a helping hand! Tuna - Eel Facts! What YOU can do! Visit a Tuna / Eel Why not check out a stream near you and see if there are eels living there? Head on down and look around the banks to see if you can spot an eel poking out to say hello. Lake Rotoiti - Nelson Lakes You can see some really neat Longfin eels at Lake Rotoiti | Nelson lakes - check out this cool video of the eels by Abel Tasman Eco Tours. Why not head there yourself to check them out. Click here to find out about Lake Rotoiti You can even check out the weather on their webcam before you go. Pollard Park - Blenheim If you live in Blenheim you can head to Pollard Park and spot some eels in the streams and ponds - Just remember to leave them be and don't touch them. Click here to find out more about Pollard Park. Lochmara Lodge - Marlborough Sounds Lochmara Lodge have a couple of amazing resident Longfin eels. If you want to check out the eels and some other neat wildlife, head on over to their website to plan your trip. Click on the logo to head to their website! Tuna / Eel Gallery Images from some of our Tuna / Eel events 2023 Tuna Eel Day Event

How the Zero Waste Dishwashing Trailer Works Zero Waste Dishwashing Trailer Interested in learning more about organizing a Zero Waste Event? Want to book our Zero Waste Dishwashing Trailer and Recycling Stations for your event? Email zerowaste@envirohub.co.nz

Learn about our beautiful taonga species, the Tohorā | Southern Right Whale and check out our games, activities, arts and crafts and how you can better protect them! Kororā Little Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor) Kororā are found throughout the coastlines of New Zealand. They are also found in southern Australia where they are known as fairy penguins. Follow along to learn more about kororā below. Korora are the world's smallest penguin! They can be as small as 25cm and weigh approximately 1kg. They hunt using their eyes and eat mostly squid and small fish. Their backs are medium blue to dark indigo and have white underbellies. They have grey hooked bills and the male little blue penguin is larger than the female. They have a population of ~500,000 but are are declining locally. They have a lifespan of approximately 7 years and can live up to 25 years ago. Kororā Facts! General ACTIVITIES, CRAFTS, GAMES AND QUIZZES Throughout this page you'll find some fun activities and resources you can explore at home with your whānau and friends. Some of these resources have been put together with the help of our fantastic local organisations. A huge thank you to those people who have helped put these together for us, we appreciate your support! Don't forget to share your activities with us, either tag us on social media or email them to us at conservationkids@envirohub.co.nz Little blues can hold their breath under water for 2minutes. The deepest recorded kororā dive in New Zealand is 35m, although they can dive as deep as 60m. They have 3 different diving styles - U-shaped, V-shaped and W-shaped. Click the image below to find out more about little blue penguin behaviour and ecosystem health. Kororā Facts! Diving Crafts: Kororā Kinetics! Racing Penguins! Make your own little blue penguin at home, to race and test out what makes them speed up and what makes them slow down. Click ME to download a FINGER PUPPET! Click the image to download the PDF! Kororā Facts! Adaptations Kororā are the only blue penguins in the world and this helps them to camouflage above and below water. Their thick layer of feathers help them to keep warm, streamlined and waterproof. They secrete an oily liquid from their preen gland to help them waterproof their feathers. Kororā flippers act as paddles to help them swim and propel through water. Source: Gettyimages There are many threats to kororā, at all stages in their life (eggs, chicks, adults). Predators are the greatest threat to little blue penguins, some including dogs, cats, rats, stoats and hedgehogs. It is super important to keep dogs on a leash when walking along coastlines where kororā may be living! Kororā Facts! Threats GAME - Penguin Pathways What threats do human's have on kororā? Try out the Penguin Pathways game created by NZ Marine Studies Centre. All you need to do is download the PDF below, which has step by step instructions. All you'll need is CHALK or MASKING TAPE, and a few of tamariki! Tamariki pretend to be penguins moving along the coastline and experience the threats may encounter day to day. Click the image to download the PDF sheet! Kororā Facts! Breeding Nesting: Between May- June, pairs return to their nests and spend time there. Incubation: Between July- December, Usually lay a clutch of 2 eggs. Chick rearing: They take care of chicks for ~ 8 weeks. Fledge: Chicks fledge at ~8 weeks. By 10 weeks they have left the nest. ACTIVITY - Build a penguin nesting box Find out if your local coastline area is home to kororā, and if those managing the area would like you to make penguin nesting boxes. Click the image to find this box design! Kororā Facts! Check out this neat video from Meet the Locals to see Kororā in their natural habitiat and how scientists go about monitoring them. Other Little Blue Penguin Resources Below you will find links to other Kororā resources, click the images to take you to the websites. Check them out! LIVE penguin monitoring A great way to monitor kororā yourself but without disturbing their nests is by watching live cams located in the boxes. Check this one out below: Kaewa the Kororā by Rachel Haydon Department of Conservation For more Little Blue Penguin information click the DOC image below. Kororā Facts! What YOU can do! So... HOW CAN YOU HELP LITTLE BLUES? Glad you asked! Firstly, help to reduce our plastic waste. Plastic can end up in our oceans and harm not only our kororā but other marine species. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse and Rot where possible! Keep an eye out for a beach cleanup near you and lend a helping hand. Click on the Plastic Free July logo, to help you get on your plastic free journey! Reduce plastic use! What you can do in your backyard: Help out your local trapping community. Practice trapping in your backyard, by putting up some traps around your property. If you have a pet cat, think about keeping them indoors at night-time, and have a bell on the collar. If you have a pet dog, make sure when on walks you keep your dog on a leash, especially around the coastline where kororā might be living. Use dog parks or off leash areas to allow your dog to let off steam. Get involved in coastal planting projects that might help encourage kororā to the area. Remember to be a tidy Kiwi and take rubbish home. What you can do when out and about: Go visit Kaipūpū Sanctuary! Visit Kaipūpū Sanctuary Kaipūpū Sanctuary is only ten minutes by water from Waitohi/Picton. On your visit, you may see fur seals, penguins, korimako, tūi, wētā and geckos (and many more). Rimu, miro, tōtara, ferns and many more varieties of plants feature. It is free to visit, but as a charity, your donations are welcome. Click on the Kaipūpū logo alongside to go to their website and find out more. Kororā Gallery Images from our Penguin events 2024 Kororā Day

Learn more about our community garden project and how you can become more involved! Waitohi Picton Community Garden Project FAQs The structure of the Waitohi Picton Community Garden will be influenced by our local community, it’s your garden after all! At the moment we are gleaning many ideas from the community, please keep them coming. We have also been communicating with other community gardens from around the country to see what has (or hasn’t) worked for them. This will provide some valuable learnings in these initial stages. There are however a few common questions that we have provided initial thinking on below. Please note that these may change as the process continues. How will it work? We envision that plots can be rented for a minimal fee by individuals, community groups, educational groups, and businesses such as cafes. Any income made from renting out plots would go back into the maintenance and management of the garden. The garden will have community plots managed by volunteers to provide fruit and vegetables for those in need and be distributed via Picton food bank, Waikawa Marae and other organisations. The garden will provide space and opportunity for workshops and educational programmes on sustainable living, organic gardening techniques, composting etc. What is the structure of the administration? The garden will be administered by Envirohub Marlborough (www.envirohub.co.nz ). Envirohub Marlborough is a Charitable Trust and has been operating since 2014. We are based in the Picton Environment Centre at 14 Auckland Street, Picton and we work in 4 key environmental areas; Sustainable Communities, Marine Conservation, Zero Waste and Conservation Kids NZ. Funding permitting, we would like to have a part-time paid coordinator. This is to avoid too much responsibility and accountability being placed on volunteers, and provide resilience to the project over time. We envision there will be a volunteer Focus Group, which will function as a 'think tank', assist with working bees and events, be a community liaison and various other roles. Where will it be located? The garden will be located in the paddock at the end of Huia and Ranui streets. This land is administered by the Marlborough District Council under the Victoria Domain Management Plan. Will it be organic? Envirohub Marlborough’s overarching ethos is to reduce our impact on the environment. Therefore, the community garden will be run using organic principles. Non-organic products may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Mentors and regular workshops will allow us all to learn about and incorporate organic practices into individual plots or at home. What about Bronte the horse? Bronte will remain on-site and contribute to the garden! What about parking? Other than working bee days, we are not envisioning large amounts of people in the garden at any one time. However, we are investigating with Council whether we can put parking inside the reserve to reduce any possible congestion on the streets. The paddock can get wet in winter, what about drainage? We will be investigating what drainage options we will need. The site is cold and dark in winter... We scoped out different potential sites for the community garden and found that this is likely to be the sunniest available. Other sites assessed were in flood zones, too small, or were already used as areas of recreation. Why do we need another community garden when there is one in Blenheim? Blenheim has a fantastic community garden and they have been very helpful and supportive of the development of one in Picton. Often travel is a barrier to gardening, so we think that a local one will give people more options that suit their needs. How much will plots cost to rent? We’re not sure yet. We will try and set a fair and reasonable amount; we don’t want the cost to inhibit people from using the garden. Some community gardens ask for volunteer time as payment so this could be an option for some plots too. Picton is a town of gardens, why do you think there is a need? Section sizes are getting smaller with greater in-filling in Picton. As well as providing space to garden, the garden will provide social and learning opportunities. We will be starting small, with the ability to grow as interest grows (pun intended!). We certainly don’t want to over-invest at this stage Where will we get water from? The Council is organising for the garden to be connected to the mains system. While we’d like to use rainwater and may set up some tanks, the reality is that we are unlikely to be able to store enough for the needs of the garden in critical dry times. We are also not intending on using the nearby stream, the stream's inhabitants would prefer the water to remain there. I live close by, I'm worried about the impact on the neighbourhood? If you have any concerns, we want to talk to you. Having a great relationship with our neighbours is critical to us and the successful running of the garden. Please contact us and we’ll make a time for one of our team to meet with you and work through your concerns. The community garden will adhere to a “Good Neighbour” policy at all times and will prevent any smell and unreasonable noise created by our activities. If you have any further questions, please get in touch at communitygarden@envirohub.co.nz or pop into the Picton Environment Centre, 14 Auckland St (Picton). Follow us on Facebook to keep up-to-date- with news www.facebook.com/pictongarden