Conservation: Seaweek tribute to national treasure

Most New Zealanders enjoy spending time at the beach over summer and we can expect many more warm summery days to get out and enjoy our coastline. The New Zealand coastline is truly a national treasure, but like all natural environments, it is vulnerable and can be damaged by our behaviour.

From March 3-11 the Whanganui Regional Museum will be joining other partners to celebrate Seaweek. This nationwide annual event provides opportunities to experience and learn more about the diversity and significance of our marine environment.

We can encourage children to respect and value the sea and the coast by giving them opportunities to enjoy it and learn about what lives there. Adults can foster a sense of wonder and curiosity by giving children a chance to poke around at the beach. Our local beaches are home to interesting and unusual creatures adapted to living in the harsh environment of scorching black sand and windswept dunes.

One of these is Brullea antarctica, a carnivorous coastal ground beetle. It looks similar to the common black ground beetle except the garden variety has slender legs, and the coastal one has chunky legs, adapted for moving in sand. In 2006 Brullea antarctica was rediscovered at Castlecliff by children from Aranui School taking part in Seaweek activities. It hadn't been recorded locally for many years.

Another chunky coastal beetle is the sand scarab, or mumutawa. The adult flies around at night, whilst the grubs spend their time under logs at the beach. They are fascinating to look at up close and can be handled safely.

Beach visitors need to be wary of another endemic coastal creature. The poisonous katipo spider makes its home in clumps of grass along the dunes. The female is small and black, about the size of a pea, with a vivid red stripe on her abdomen. The male is much smaller and has distinctive white markings surrounding a paler orange-red stripe. The katipo is shy and will only bite if it feels threatened, so it is a good idea to wear shoes in the dunes and keep off the grasses where katipo spiders are most likely to be living.

Children can learn to return live creatures unharmed to where they were found, and replace logs disturbed during the search.

If your family enjoys kaimoana, and you collect live creatures for food, an attitude of respect and care is still important. Only take what you need for a feed. It is up to all of us to look after our fragile coastal environment.

For more information visit www.seaweek.org.nz

Margie Beautrais is an educator at the Whanganui Regional Museum.