The Kaikōura Blue Fish Treasure Hunt
Kaikōura kids discover their new stormwater guardians and how to stop stormwater pollution at the Blue Fish Treasure Hunt.
You might have noticed some blue fish, dolphins and tuna/eel popping up above Kaikōura stormwater drains.
During Seaweek, Kaikōura children were invited on a treasure hunt to scour the streets and see how many blue stormwater guardians they could find.
The icons were put there by the Kaikōura Water Zone Committee and Kaikōura District Council to remind us that what washes down our stormwater drains flows directly into our rivers and streams, and eventually out into the ocean.
Winners of the Blue Fish Treasure Hunt!
The Kaikōura Water Zone Committee and Kaikōura District Council were delighted to receive 21 individual and class entries. To enter, children needed to record how many guardians they spotted and tell us what kind of pollutants we need to keep out of our stormwater drains.
Big congratulations to our winners!
- Individual Winner - Billy Dewhirst
- Class Winner - St Joseph’s School Pohutakawa Class
Our winning class will receive a pizza shout from Black Rabbit, and our individual winner, a voucher to grab some fun goodies from PaperPlus Kaikōura.
Local Council Community Development Worker Sarah Wright said they were delighted with the uptake.
Billy Dewhirst was the individual winner
“We were blown away by our local eagle-eyed kids who did an incredible job of finding all the icons and showing us how to protect our stormwater!
"We hope they’ll take this learning away with them and keep talking to their family and friends about ways we can look after water quality and the habitats of our aquatic creatures.”
Why put aquatic icons above stormwater drains?
It's easy to forget that what washes down our stormwater drain flows directly, unfiltered into our streams, rivers and the ocean.
The Kaikōura Water Zone Committee and Kaikōura District Council chose to put in the blue aquatic icons above our stormwater drains as a visual reminder that what goes down them has immediate impacts on local aquatic life.
When contaminants like litter, dirt or chemicals are allowed to wash off hard surfaces like pavements and roads and into our stormwater drains, it can cause serious illness or even death for the wildlife that live in our waterways and the ocean.
During Seaweek, the Kaikōura community celebrated its precious aquatic life and beautiful marine environments. Our new blue stormwater guardians will remind us to keep their homes clean.
Rosie Hoggard helped with the blue fish install