ESTABLISHING STUDENT LED NZL BLUE BELT PROJECTS AT WORSER BAY

There are five long term projects that have be implemented at the Worser Bay NZL Blue Belt site which got underway in 2023.

Paua Nursery: 

The paua nursery project is led by the Wellington East Girl’s College team with support from from the NZ Marine Studies Centre (NZMSC). They sewed the groundwork for this ongoing ‘take action’ project at Worser Bay. The long-term goal is for the paua nursery at Worser Bay to continue to grow stock that will be used to reseed sites with paua around Motu Kairangi coastline, from Seatoun wharf to Scorching Bay. A range of preliminary research tasks are underway, such as establishing a baseline of the paua numbers in and around the Worser Bay site, consultation with iwi and local community, finding out how to grow paua, exploring how to transplant paua, discovering what permissions are required to do this, and what protections can be put in place to safeguard the nursery.​

Anemone garden: 

The anemone garden project involve ākonga from a group of primary schools in the Kāhui Ako. These ākonga run through a Moanamana version of the Experiencing Marine Reserves programme facilitated by the Mountains to Sea Wellington (MTSW) team. Each class receive a class visit by a MTSW facilitator to set the scene for their project, and are introduced to the NZL Blue Belt tools and snorkeling at a pool session. They use their snorkeling sessions at Worser Bay and tools, and take-action by choosing a species and investigating how the site can be better managed to improve conditions for that species to thrive in the anemone garden area at Worser Bay. The Boat & Beach Wise (B&BW) team used these ideas and proposed to Wellington City and Regional Councils to install rock revetment and associated amenities to protect the buildings in this corner of Worser Bay, and in the process created a garden area that included the ideas for habitat put forward by ākonga.

Kelp forest:

The kelp forest project involves MTSW working with kura and schools, and members of the broader community to monitor their kelp forest site, to the North of Worser Bay as part of the Love Rimurimu project. This involved mapping kelp growth in Worser Bay and establishing tanks for growing kelp and associated species in the ‘Boat & Beach Wise’ shed at Worser Bay Boating Club. It also included bringing the Worser Bay site into the broader Love Rimurimu kaupapa including securing the permitting to achieve this.

Snorkel trail: 

The snorkel trail is led by the Wellington High School team, with support from NZMSC and MTSW. They got underway with mapping out the trail and with the design and installation of the four key components that made up the snorkel trail – story blocks, biodiversity surveys, sediment plates, and bait stations. Ākonga investigated biodiversity survey methods and identifed how long-term data could be collected using quadrats, transects, cameras, settlement plates. A series of stops on the snorkel trail were established for story blocks with handholds that people can dive down to and read one aspect of the story of Wellington harbour, from Tangaroa, Tāwhirimātea, Ika-a- Maui, Ngake, Kupe, Tara, to Heberley and the naming of Worser Bay. Adjacent to each block is a survey station and throughout the trail there is a series of baited video stations. Each of these elements are installed in such a way that they are heavy enough to remain in situ but not too heavy so that cannot be removed if necessary.

Waka building:

The waka building project is by the Rongotai College team with support from the B&BW team. The goal over two to three years is for ākonga at Rongotai College to build two wakatere to be used at Worser Bay, within the context of the Moanamana module for plankton and temperature monitoring. The wakatere will also be used within the Kōrinorino and Kōkōkaha modules of the broader RŪNĀ programme across the Kāhui Ako. Groups of ākonga from Rongotai travelled to the SailGP in Christchurch and went on a Waka Hourua wānanga with the Te Toki Voyaging Trust to help them get a feel for what is possible as they embarked on their waka building journey.