1 October 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Social Justice at Marsden Saving the Māui dolphin
Wynter Tickle, Year 8 student at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School, is lobbying to protect the endangered Māui dolphins
from gill and trawl nets by changing the protection zone to waters up to 100m deep around the New Zealand coastline.
Samuel Marsden Collegiate School Year 8 students have been working on Social Justice Projects over the last few months. Their brief was to choose causes
they are passionate about, with the emphasis on creating change.
A range of topics were tackled by the girls, including the creation of an Intstagram page raising awareness of
environmental issues, running a tutorial on how to make your own honey beeswax wraps to cut down on plastic in
lunchboxes, and organising a sign language workshop.
Wynter Tickle wanted to help protect the critically endangered Māui dolphins from gill and trawl nets by changing the
protection zone to waters up to 100m deep around the New Zealand coastline. She created a video, and a display in the
main corridor of the school, inviting students to sign in support of this cause.
Both the New Zealand Whale and Dolphin Trust and Wynter are looking to raise awareness of this issue and lobby the
Government to change the protection zone. Wynter’s next step is to write a letter to the Hon Eugenie Sage, Minister for
Conservation and Associate Minister of the Environment. She wishes to present the letter, and a large photograph of the
display with the collected signatures, in person.
“Students have worked incredibly hard on their projects. The girls were advised to think about raising awareness and
opening people's minds to different perspectives. This has required them to think outside the box, rather than simply
choosing a good cause and organising a sausage sizzle. Students have emailed companies, run surveys, made phone calls,
created posters, petitions, developed relationships within the community and set up Instagram pages. It has been an
extremely positive real life, project-based learning experience for all our Year 8s”, said Marsden teacher Callie
Ballara.
"The Māui and Hector’s dolphins are native to New Zealand. The Maui dolphin, a subspecies of the Hector's dolphin, is
the world’s rarest and smallest dolphin. The Māui dolphin can be found in waters around the North Island and the
Hector's dolphin can be found in waters around the South Island. With only 55 Māui dolphin remaining they are critically
endangered and need our urgent protection. If we can protect their habitat by extending water protection up to 100m deep
then we can keep the Māui dolphin safe from fishing nets and safe from extinction. Please join me in saving the Māui
dolphin and protecting the future of the Hector's dolphin by writing, in support of water protection up to 100m deep, to
Hon Eugenie Sage at e.sage@ministers.govt.nz "
You can find more information about this cause on the NZ Whale and Dolphin Trust website.
Samuel Marsden Collegiate School has been providing quality independent education for 140 years. Marsden has two
campuses. The Marsden School Karori campus provides education for girls from Years 1 to 13 and has a co-ed Preschool.
Marsden Whitby provides education for boys and girls Years 7–13. As a not-for-profit organisation Marsden School
expresses its mission in terms of what it ultimately wants to achieve for its students. That is to lay the foundations
for lives of meaning, accomplishment and genuine happiness. Marsden develops confident, independent, creative, lifelong
learners who are challenged to reach their academic and personal potential in a warm and supportive environment
underpinned by Christian values.
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