Day #4: Swimming with the Sharks
Date: Tuesday 11 July
By the end of Day #3, you have seen a lot of the north island of New Zealand. Hopefully you have enjoyed it and you’re excited for the next phase of your journey – the ferry trip across the Cook Strait from the bottom of the north island to the top of the south island. You will spend the next two days exploring the south island before you head back up to Auckland, via Wellington (the capital city of New Zealand).
Activity 1: When you arrive in the south island, Curious Kiwi rents a shuttle van and drives your group from Picton (the town where the ferry dropped you off) to a beautiful beach on the opposite side of the island. The beach area is called Golden Bay and, at one end of the bay, is a stunning area called Farewell Spit.
http://www.kiwidaydreaming.com/p/new-zealand-maps.html
Farewell Spit has been in the news recently as a number of whales accidentally swam into the spit and became stuck on the beach. They were unable to swim back to the ocean because the water was too shallow. Many local people tried to save the ‘beached’ whales. Please follow this Farewell Spit link to learn more about what happened. On your blog, describe what the local people did to try and save the beached whales.
Farewell Spit - Local Helpers
Local people have been trying their best to prevent the whales from dying on their beach. Trying to keep the whales wet and at the same time trying to keep them self safe. The stench of rotting fish and bird bones surrounds them as they wait for help to arrive. They are prepared, for the better or for the worse.
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Activity 2: After a morning of learning about beached whales in Golden Bay, you and your group are driven to a nearby town, Nelson, to watch a special movie called ‘Whale rider.’ It is a famous movie about a young girl who was born and raised in New Zealand. Watch the following movie trailers for Whale Rider: Whale Rider trailer #1 and Whale Rider Trailer #2 and then write a summary of the movie on your blog. What is it about? Be sure to also give the movie a rating out of 5 based on the trailer [1 = bad movie, 2 = okay movie, 3 = pretty good, 4 = good movie, 5 = excellent movie].
My Summary - Whale Rider
Rate: 4
At first I had to watch both trailers several times until I could understand what the movie was about. Below is what I think "Whale Rider" is about:
Whale Rider is about a girl who comes from a long line of chiefs. Her very first ancestor came to New Zealand on a back of a whale. Though all of her ancestors were male, she was the first female chief. So she must be trained to lead her tribe.
When ‘Whale Rider’ finishes, you and your tour group enjoy a delicious meal in downtown Nelson before heading back to your hotel. You need to go to bed early because you have to get up at 4:30 a.m. the next morning to travel back to Farewell Spit to see a group (pod) of Hector’s Dolphins. It is going to be an early morning!
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Bonus Activity: Hector’s dolphins are a very special native animal found only in New Zealand. They are the smallest dolphin in the world measuring 1.5 metres long and they are quite rare. Sadly, many Hector’s dolphins are killed every year when they get caught in large fishing nets and can’t escape. Some people have argued that fishermen shouldn’t be allowed to fish in Farewell Spit in order to protect the dolphins living there. What do you think? On your blog, tell us whether you think that fishing in Farewell Spit should be banned (stopped).
My Thoughts - Should Fishing be banned in Farewell Spit
In Day 3's post, their was a question like this: Should New Zealand go Predator Free? Both are concerned of Aotearoa's native species/plants. Unlike yesterday's post I have to say: Fishing should be banned in Farewell Spit.
Fishing in Farewell Spit is too risky. It's like hunting for a monkey, but instead you find a lion. It doesn't end well. Our native dolphin should be cherished and looked after, especially when they're only found in New Zealand.
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Bonus Activity: 10 points
Hi Aaliyah,
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see that you are blogging for the Winter Learning Journey but I think to make your blog posts more interesting you may want to do this: All you will do to make your blog posts interesting is just to actually make DLO's/Infographic's and add various images relating to what your doing.
I hope this advice can and will help you.