Ambassador Māia

Kia ora,

I'm Māia the kea. My name means bold in Māori. Like most kea I love to give things a go and am often curious and a little mischievous. I am the ambassador that travels all over the place with Shelley the LEARNZ field trip teacher.

I love getting out and about on adventures. Even though I'm more at home in the mountains, I am looking forward to heading to Nelson for the Sustainable Seas field trip.

See you at the beach,

Māia.

Monday 5 March

Kia ora,

It was fantastic to finally be on our way to Nelson even though the cloud hung around and didn’t allow us to see much from the plane. Korry and I made the most of the flight time by sharing kea stories. He’s still young with yellow around his eyes so loves to make mischief!

As soon as we arrived in Nelson the cloud lifted and we were able to go exploring. The other ambassadors were keen for a swim but I hate water! It was interesting to see some of the damage that ex-cyclone Gita caused around the water front.

Tomorrow we are heading out to Delaware Bay by boat.

See you there,

Māia.

Tuesday 6 March

Kia ora,

We had a perfect day to start our field trip today. Light winds and sunshine allowed us to head out to Delaware Bay by boat to fish for blue cod. It took ages before we actually caught a fish but patience paid off in the end. We even got to dissect the fish back in the lab in Nelson. It was so cool seeing what the fish had been eating and finding out its age by counting growth rings on its ear bone.

Well it has been a busy day so I’m off to bed early.

See you in the morning,

Māia.

Wednesday 7 March

Kia ora,

We headed down to the estuary at first light this morning. We were there just in time for low tide so we could head right out onto the mudflats to explore. I have never taken much interest in estuaries but if you dig down into the sand you quickly discover that there are heaps of creatures living here and they all have an important job to do. Some animals help remove waste while others filter the water.

Tomorrow we are heading back out to sea to take measurements.

See you at sea,

Māia.

Thursday 8 March

Kia ora,

This week has gone so quickly but we have learned so much. I didn’t know much about the sea before this field trip but now I understand just how important it is, even to those who don’t live close to the ocean.

We had another amazing boat trip out into Tasman Bay and helped scientists to measure things like salinity, temperature and depth of water. It was cool to see all the technology scientists use.

It has been a great field trip and I’ve enjoyed being by the sea.

I hope to see you on another field trip soon.

Bye for now,

Māia.