As part of New Zealand’s National Sea Week 2017 Students, parents and teachers of Howick Intermediate School took part in a two-hour long beach clean-up at Eastern Beach on Sunday, February 26.
Principal of Howick Intermediate, Yolande Franke led the group as they walked the length and breadth of the Eastern Bays’ treasure.
Children received words of praise and gratitude from the Sunday beachgoers for their efforts as they collected rubbish – including plastic bottles, bottle tops, cigarette butts, kid’s toys, lollipop sticks, wrappers, bread bag ties and other unmentionable items.
In addition to giving back to the community, the exercise was also an educational one.
The children investigated and identified sea creatures on the beach and foreshore in a square metre area.
A number of creatures were spotted through the magnifying glass, including, sand hoppers, sea snails and crabs.
The results will be collated by the school and forwarded to the National Database for further scientific research.
To learn more about National Sea Week go to: www.seaweek.org.nz
