Happy World Wetlands Day!! This year’s theme for World Wetlands Day ‘Wetlands and Water,’ highlights the importance of wetlands as a source of freshwater and encourages action to restore them and stop their loss. The Mornington ‘i sea i care’ Ambassadors were treated to an amazing session with DRI’s Education Officer Jess, Maayan from Boneo Park, and Gerard and his team from the Mornington Shire at the beautiful Boneo Park Wetlands! As the photo shows the Ambasassadors were just as excited as everyone else to be back on site for the first time in many months! 
Ambassadors had such a great time learning first-hand about the importance of our beautiful wetlands, the history of RAMSAR sites, and the diverse range of indigenous and non-indigenous flora and fauna. Jess explained, using her amazing catchment model, a range of wetland ‘ecosystem services’ such as their important role as carbon sinks, in pollution filtration, as critical habitat, and the catchment model helped them understand how all waterways lead to the ocean!
Ambassadors also enjoyed partaking in a bird-watching session and learning how to identify different bird calls!
Gerard discussed with Ambassadors how land uses have changed over time.
Ambassadors also conducted an invertebrate survey which helped them gain a deeper understanding of how the presence and absence of particular species determines the health of a catchment! Now, who said science was not fun? Not us that is for sure!
To top off a fantastic day the Ambassadors enjoyed a scrumptious veggie barbecue, thanks of course to our Masterchef Gerard!! Thank you so much to everyone involved for making this World Wetlands Day so special for our Ambassadors!
If you would like to learn more about the range of amazing learning experiences with the Dolphin Research Institute Education Team please contact Education Director Mandy Roberston at education@dolphinresearch.org
