In 2020 Oturu School school engaged in a Whitebait Connection Programme with Programme Coordinator Rosie. Their programme included a field trip to the Waipokapoka Stream. Waipokapoka Stream is in the Awanui catchment area. At the top of the Awanui catchment, the Victoria and Takahue rivers form the headwaters of the Awanui River in the Mangamuka Ranges. The upper reaches of these rivers are surrounded by native forest while the lower reaches of Awanui River flow through farmland and urban areas before flowing out into Rangaunu Harbour.
Here are the results from the student's testing at the Waipokapoka Stream on their fieldtrip:
- Habitat Assessment - The students noticed that there was no shade over the waterway, that there were lots of aquatic weeds growing in the water, and that there was no water flow
- Electrical Conductivity - 120 µS/cm
- Temperature - The temperature ranged from 16 degrees at the start of the day to 23 degrees as the day got hotter
- Clarity - 54cm
- pH - 6.5
- Macroinvertebrates - adult diving beetles, diving beetle larvae, woody cased caddiflies larvae, back swimmers, water boatmen, mosquito larvae, mites, snails, worms and leeches
- Fish - inanga & gambusia (pest fish) were caught
