Seaweek – Kaupapa Moana Celebration is all about celebrating the sea. Year 7 - 10 have been using their time in Science to get creative and raise awareness. Find out the winners!

Seaweek is New Zealand's annual celebration of the sea. In Science, Year 8 to 10 marked this occasion by creating artistic pieces that raise awareness about marine plastic pollution using household waste materials. The judges (parents and staff) faced a tough decision, but here are the results:

Third Place: "Rubbish Turtle" by Khloe Dawkins

Second Place: "The Rubbish in the Sea" by Madison Reynolds and Brooklyn Landreth

First Place & People's Choice: "Whale Sadness" by Casey Catherwood

"1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die each year just because of litter and pollution. This can happen because the sea life either thinks that a small piece of plastic is food or they accidentally swim into something like a net causing many problems such as suffocation, starvation and even drowning. Just think of how much sea life we could save if we could just manage our own rubbish. There are so many small changes which would eventually make a huge difference after some time. Such examples - we could start by adding more rubbish bins to our beaches or making people more aware of how bad the pollution is getting making them want to volunteer and help out their surroundings/community."

Congratulations to all participants! We received wonderful feedback from visitors, staff, students, and parents. Let's continue to promote sustainability by choosing biodegradable products over plastic and disposing of waste properly. Remember the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.