Warrington School pupil Mira Neuman prepares to track sea
lions at Sandfly beach on the Otago Peninsula using a VHF
tracker. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
Ten-year-old Mira Neuman not only got a day off school,
she got to track sea lions and survey yellow-eyed penguin nests
yesterday as she took up the chance to be a Department of
Conservation ranger for a day.
The Warrington School pupil won a competition to become a
ranger for a day with her short story about plastic bag
pollution and how it affected a pod of dolphins.
Mira chose to be a coastal ranger from a list of options,
including skink ranger, freshwater fish ranger and threatened
plant ranger.
"It is fun to learn about seals and I like penguins a lot."
Mira tracked sea lions using a VHF tracker at beaches around
the Otago Peninsula and joined Doc workers conducting a
survey of penguin nests at Boulder beach.
Coastal ranger Jim Fyfe said a PhD student was keeping track
of female sea lions for one year to get an idea of the
habitat they used.
The competition was run last month during Conservation Week.
- edith.schofield@odt.co.nz
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