Here comes the Aquavan!

2018-07-24T14:14:00 Pacific/Auckland

24 July 2018

Southlanders big and small are invited to get hands-on with the creatures that live in our waterways at the Mataura Community Centre on Wednesday 1 August.

Aquavan: discovering our coastal connections' is a community event being run by the NZ Marine Studies Centre and Environment Southland in the Mataura River catchment. The Aquavan is an exciting new vehicle which can transport living marine creatures to classrooms and community halls. It has chilled seawater tanks and a mobile touch tank.

This is great opportunity for you and your family to dive on in and learn about water quality. You can see the Aquavan, meet real sea creatures and learn about marine ecosystems through fun experiments. This is also a unique opportunity to learn more about how activities on the land can affect rivers and coastal ecosystems, to chat with farmers who have set up catchment groups and meet scientists who are studying Southland's marine and freshwater ecosystems.

Presented in conjunction with Menzies College, University of Otago, NZ Landcare Trust, Catchments Otago and Environment Southland, this event is open to everyone. It's a great chance to see and hear some of the community initiatives that are underway to help improve water quality.

What: Free event - Celebrating the Mataura River's coastal connections

When: Wednesday 1 August, 6-8pm

Where: Mataura Community Centre, 2 McQueen Ave

Tea and coffee available

Schedule

6-8pm Main Hall

Interact with live marine animals in mobile touch tanks; learn about marine ecosystems through simple, fun experiments; chat with scientists, farmers and members of catchment groups; play with the Enviroscape model to see how activities on the land can affect rivers and coastal ecosystems.

6.30-8pm Presentations in Games Room

6.40pm Menzies College

7.00pm Environment Southland

7.20pm NZ Landcare Trust