A group of 40 Year 8 students from Wentworth College got out in the field with scientists last month, assisting with studies into water quality and habitat in Stanmore Bay Stream.

The work took place under the guidance of Sarah Dimitrijevic of Whitebait Connection.

Restoring and enhancing clean waterways from the mountains to the sea is an ambitious goal and requires the help of many.

Local business MTF Whangarei have made it a bit easier by sponsoring local environmental group, the Whitebait Connection (WBC), a 12-seater van and trailer.

Roger was an absolute champion for our marine environment. He dedicated his life to marine conservation and tirelessly shared his wealth of knowledge with others. Roger was a trustee of the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust from 2002 – 2018 and an honoured patron from 2018. Our team loved spending time with Roger and I don’t think we are ever going to forget the correct way to eat an artichoke! We miss you terribly but we will ensure your legacy makes waves for a long time to come.

A memorial fund has been established and is administered by the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust.  The page to donate directly can be found here. 

This year, more than 215 Hauraki/Coromandel students, along with parents and teachers, completed the Experiencing Marine Reserves (EMR) programme. The schools involved were Harataunga, Coroglen, Moanataiari, Te Rerenga and Whangamata Area School

The focus of the EMR programme is to provide quality education opportunities about, increase awareness of, and encourage action and support for marine conservation in New Zealand.

Bales of hay staked in place with yellow topped waratahs dot the streambanks in Whangarei’s Mair Park, looking strangely out of place as the river meanders past. 

The bales are serving a remarkable and unusual purpose; they are artificial spawning habitats and egg nurseries for one of the nation’s most loved and at-risk native fish, Inanga (whitebait species).

The Whitebait Connection (WBC) was contracted by the Landcare Trust in 2015 and 2016 to undertake an Inanga spawning habitat investigation in the Wairau, Paparoa and Pahi River systems. The work forms part of a larger body of work that is focussed on catchment and biodiversity restoration within the Northern Kaipara Harbour through the Reconnecting Northland project which is a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) and Landcare Trust (LT). This project has proven to be successful with Inanga spawning sites identified in all three focus rivers, with the first being the Wairau River.

Deputy National Coordinator, Nina Pivac has been busy in the Far North delivering the Whitebait Connection programme to local kura including Paparore School, Kaingaroa School and a collective of Ngataki, Te Kao and Te Hapua Schools. 

This has lead to some serious action being planned by these schools in a bid to restore their waterways.

Thanks to Khandallah School students, a native whitebait species has been rediscovered happily living - and breeding - in their local park. 

The 'Green Team' Envirogroup went out spotlighting and fish-trapping with freshwater educators and found the fish, known as a banded kokopu, living right next to the popular local playground in Khandallah Park.

It might not have made for light work, but many hands contributed to planting along the Rotokakahi Awa at Pawarenga last week, in a bid to sustain the river's tinanga and whitebait populations for the future.

Around 50 people, including students and staff from Te Kura o Hata Maria, members of the Pawarenga community, the Northland Regional Council, members of the Broadwood gym, Whitebait Connection co-ordinators and two French tourists planted just under 500 native plants to restore the spawning site.

A sparkling stream teeming with life was left oxygen choked and polluted after contractors felling trees blocked it, residents say.

The north Auckland waterway, which has been noted as an important inanga (whitebait) spawning site, sits next to the stump of the former 150-year-old Norfolk pine at Snells Beach which residents tried to save the Boathouse Bay development from felling.

The Otuihau working group is a sub group that reports to the wider Whangarei Catchment Group. The working group is made-up of representatives from the Northland District Health Board, Northland Regional Council, Whangarei District Council, Pehiāweri Marae, Whitebait Connection and Tiki Pride.

Snells Beach School is embracing the environment with this years theme, Care For Here.  One of the first activities, was a clean-up at the Snells Beach waterfront, including the grass area.  

The Year 3 and 4 students will explore the Snells Beach Stream as part of the Whitebait Connection Programme.