Several weeks ago, the trust received separate requests from Greymouth guides and Greymouth cubs. Both groups were keen to learn more about the local penguins – kororā, and to get down to their local beach for a bit of detective work.
The Greymouth Guide Club Guides and Rangers had a chance to visit Cameron’s Beach with Penguin Ranger Lucy Waller on a chilly, windy evening, 19th November.
The group found many penguin tracks on the beach and learned all about nesting, penguin features and behaviour. The Rangers are keen to work with the trust in future to help advocate for the penguins and do more work for their conservation.
The Guides are aged from 9.5 years to 12.5 years and the Rangers are 12.5 years old and up. Guide leader and mother of one of the guides, Joanne Naish said: “They really enjoyed the trip and we could not believe how many penguin tracks we all found. Lucy was informative, knowledgeable and engaging with the girls.”
Craig Passuello, one of the leaders of Greymouth cubs, explained that the cubs were working towards their ‘Oceans Better World Badge’ and were planning a beach clean up.
The group was keen to make a difference, pickup up rubbish, perhaps talk to dog owners, and learn about penguins, discovering their tracks as well as interpreting what other tracks might mean – dogs, people, vehicles – from the point of view of the smallest of penguins.
The trust supplied each group with our educational resource, Blue Penguins and Other Seabirds – activities for exploration and action for schools and community groups, and Mr Passuello decided to give the ‘plaster of Paris tracks’ activity a go with the cubs, with great results!
Mr Passuello reported: “The weather was perfect and the beach clean up at Cameron’s with the Greymouth Cub Group was a great success. We were even fortunate enough to find some penguin footprints and we took a plaster cast of one. We are to take the cubs back at a later date and get them each to make a cast.”
Both groups are keen to work with the trust next year to grow the knowledge of these enthusiastic young people and support their journey to be more nature aware, learning about penguins and the threats to them, and then taking action to help their local kororā thrive.
While materials were chosen that would stand up to the harsh coastal conditions, those same coastal conditions are conducive to plant growth! Occasional checks of the fences have been carried out by volunteers and rangers so that any maintenance needs can be identified and remedied. The never-ending need for maintenance is managing the vegetation that can grow through the fence, for example gorse, blackberry and hydrangea, pushing it to breaking point in places, or flop over causing damage from the weight of rank grass, rushes and weeds such as montbretia.
Volunteers recently spent a few hours tidying up the main fence along Woodpecker Bay north of Punakaiki so a big shout out to them - thank you Fiona, Jony, Reef, Katrina, Mandy, Marty, Teresa and Deb! Flax had been pressing down on the fence, but now the fence has been freed up by these wonderful volunteers - and they picked up a fair bit of rubbish too.
Volunteer Natassja Savidge has offered to check and help maintain the Hokitika penguin protection fence and joined Ranger Lucy Waller and Manager Inger Perkins in May to inspect the length of the fence. Some minor issues were found but the main finding was the extent of the vegetation growth that was damaging the fence in places. Big thanks to Natassja!
