A big turn-out from our Kingston Ambassadors who met at Banyan Reserve, Carrum Downs for their workshop on June 6. The day was all about Melbourne Water litter traps, our waterways and the abundance of marine life found in between. With so many fantastic Ambassadors keen to get stuck into the workshop, schools were divided into groups and spent the morning rotating between activities.
Many thanks to Mitch and the crew from Melbourne Water. They took the first activity – sifting through one of the litter traps in the Reserve explaining their purpose and the positive impact they have throughout our many waterways. One lucky group even sighted an eel squirming its way from the litter trap back into the wetlands! The second activity was exploring some of the invertebrates that can be found living in the water. By displaying multiple water samples, Ambassadors were able to get nice-and-close, isolating and identifying anything that caught their eyes. The final rotation was all about water-testing; why it’s important to survey the health of our waterways and how it’s done.
In the afternoon, Ambassadors travelled down the Mordialloc beach, braving the cold winds to complete a litter collection and litter audit. To complete the Baykeepers litter audit, Ambassadors set-up three isolated quadrants located at the high tide mark, mid-beach and top of the beach.
By sifting through the quadrants, Ambassadors completed a survey on the various artificial materials identified in each. This is the first time the Dolphin Research Institute has done this, so well done to our Ambassadors for stepping-up to the task and making it such a successful trial!
To finish off the workshop, we all walked along Mordialloc Creek to check out two litter traps that filter water coming from as far as Dandenong. To the wonderful parents and teachers who come along to workshops – thank you for getting involved and helping these days run so smoothly – without you we wouldn’t exist! And to our Ambassadors – your passion is what makes days like this such a joy.
The amazing Ambassadors from Chelsea Heights Primary School have made a blog post about the day. Click here to see what else happened …
