Junior Rangers will be involved in two Seaweek activities where they will head down to Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Lee Point and discover biodiversity at the beach, take part in a Rockpool Race to see if they can make it back to their Rockpools before the tide goes out, then use their creativity to make their own take-home Seaweek 2000 T-Shirts!!

Dates: Monday 10th April & Tuesday 11th April
Times: 3:00pm - 4:30pm & 2:00pm - 3:30pm

The Junior Ranger Program is a free environmental education program for Territory children aged between 9 - 14 years. Bookings are open to all members, for enquiries please contact Roana Bezuijen on (08) 8999-4565.

In conjunction with the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and the Marine and Coastal Community Network, the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory are organising for four speakers to present talks to the Darwin community on marine issues.

One of the speakers will be Ray Chatto, Conservation Management Officer from the Parks and Wildlife Commission who will be speaking about marine turtles, in particular the flatback turtle. The talk will include slides, overheads and use of preserved specimens.

Date: Wednesday 12th April
Location: NT Museum, theatrette
Bookings are essential please contact the NT Museum on (08) 8999-8201.

Seaweek 2000 was a great success in Darwin with all activities being booked out.

Over Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th April, 40 Junior Rangers took part in fun activities to raise awareness of biodiversity at Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Lee Point.

To warm up the group played a fun game about being dressed appropriately for the beach ...

with Bradley sporting the latest safety apparel as chosen by his winning team!

Helped by parents and staff each pair collected different species of animals and made a mental note of those species seen from afar (birds), and those just too quick to catch - fish!

The Junior Rangers then shared their findings with the group making a list of species and a tally of the numbers found from each species.

There was an amazing array of life amongst the rockpools with the group finding chitons, mudskippers, a variety of shells, crabs, prawns and fish. The general consensus was that biodiversity at this beach was high!

After returning the animals back to their rockpools it was then time for another game - the Rockpool Race where participants took on the role of a rockpool inhabitant and had to try and obtain as much water as possible as the tide went out. Real life scenarios then decided which animals survived or were eaten by hungry seagulls and crabs.

Now thoroughly sandy, wet and exhausted! The group made their way back to the shady picnic area to design their own Seaweek 2000 t-shirts and pillowcases. Children painted the diversity of animals they had seen at the beach and some of their favourite species.

And the result? Some colourful and imaginative designs, a wonderful way to remember the day!

Lots of fun was had at the Palmerston Public Library where 30 children and several parents took part in an action packed Seaweek activity.

The children discussed the types of plants and animals found in the sea and the analogy was made that the sea is like a big salty soup with many different ingredients in it.

A cooking table was set up with a big mixing bowl and various "ingredients" amongst which were included a few "red herrings".

The group called out items that they believed were essential sea soup ingredients including water, sand, sharks, dolphins, turtles, lobsters and more... (note the animal items were not real!!!)

After mixing it altogether the group was asked if they would like to taste the creation. The response was slightly dubious and my culinary skills were treated with a good dose of suspicion!

A pre-prepared electric blue soup was offered to the group, some thought it wonderful and even asked for a second cup! While others felt that they had fulfilled their salt requirements for quite some time.

Next the group had a preserved animal presentation of a slate-pencil sea urchin, starfish and a turtle shell with the features and important role these animals play in the sea highlighted.

The group then shared their favourite creatures with the group and explained a little bit about the animal ad why it was special to them and how we could better care for these animals.

Then finally to bring it altogether the group designed a Seaweek 2000 picture to help other people understand about the biodiversity that is found in our seas.

Children had fun using a variety of craft materials including clay, feathers, crepe paper, and glitter to design crabs, octopuses, stingrays, sea urchins, feather stars, brittle stars, turtles and more..!

The result? A wonderful colourful display for all the public to see and the children to re-visit with their families.

But there was more to come..!