On Tuesday we went to Waitahuna with Room 7 and Room 4, some parents, Mrs May, Marie, Rachel and Grant Murray. When we got there, we got to meet Craig Simpson from Landcare, Keiran and Angus ( the electric fisherman), Matt from the department of conservation, Glen (from the Sinclair Wetlands) who helped with planting, 2 ladies from the Otago regional council.We planted flax along the riverbank. We had to dig a hole, then we took the plant out of the black bag, and we put it into the hole.Then we covered the hole with the mashed up dirt and stepped on the plant so that the wind couldn’t blow it out.We did it because we wanted to help the fish and eels, that live in the Waitahuna River to have a better, healthier environment to live in. The flax helps the eels ( and fish ) hide, they stop the riverbanks from breaking and sliding into the river by making them strong, and provide somewhere for the insects to live. Planting flaxes now will make the river a better environment for a long time.We got into a group with three children and one adult to dig our holes and plant our flaxes, My group was me, Charlotte, Danni and dad. The two classes planted 200 flax bushes while we were there.1,000 plants were planted in total.Also while we were there, Keiran showed us an eel he had caught overnight. He also showed us electric fishing, which is using an electric current to stun the fish, so that they can catch them and look at them more closely. He told us the bigger the fish the more effect it gave them. He showed us a brown trout and a lamprey eel that he caught earlier.Lamprey eels are very rare, and it was the first one he’d ever seen. They ate ancient fish, sometimes called a ‘sucker eel’ because they don’t have a jaw and they suck.
