About the programme.

The way we use our land directly affects the health of our streams, rivers, estuaries and the sea. In fact, it affects us all.

By looking at the life in a stream, we can draw many conclusions, about the state of health of the stream and about the lands that surround it.   

Instant teaching - just add water

Our coordinators come to your school to help you plan and integrate the programme into your curriculum. They also take your class out to deliver an in-stream workshop with the children, other teachers and parents, local stakeholders, everyone is welcome.

Schools that participate in the Whitebait Connection will also learn about freshwater bugs or macroinvertebrates, as they are known. The term invertebrate refers to life forms without spines. In this case they are basically insects whose larval stages occur in streams and rivers and that feed on algae, leaf litter or other invertebrates.

These creatures are not only indicators of water quality, (as some are more tolerant to pollution than others) but they also form the primary food source for our freshwater fish.

And the freshwater fish? Why they in their turn, are on the menu of the kahawai and the kingfish that swim into the estuaries to feed. Since the kahawai itself is an irresistible morsel for a hungry marlin you can see how in ecological terms, our world is one big food chain.

After the discovery, we will support schools to take action for their local freshwater environments through whatever ways they deem suitable.  Some examples of actions can be viewed here.

Whitebait is a collective term describing the juvenile stage of five species of native freshwater fish that migrate in large mixed shoals from the sea to freshwater rivers and streams during the season.

Whitebait species include;

Inanga (Galaxias maculatus)
Banded Kokopu (Galaxias fasciatus)
Koaro (Galaxias brevipinnis)
Giant Kokopu (Galaxias argenteus)
Shortjawed Kokopu (Galaxias postvectis)