Ocean giants create a splash with local schoolchildren 

A life-size basking shark and bottlenose dolphin are a just a few of the marine creatures that have been making waves in schools across North Down, Ards, Belfast and Newtownabbey, as part of an exciting living seas education programme delivered by Ulster Wildlife.

 The hand-crafted ocean giants which also include a common and grey seal and a harbour porpoise have been funded by Bombardier Aerospace and Northern Ireland Environment Agency, alongside an interactive classroom session to help bring our marine environment to life.  

Almost twenty schools have taken part in the sessions so far, exploring the giants that live in our local seas using life-size models, stories and games, plus footage from above and below the water.  A curriculum-linked education pack has also been developed to help teachers deliver marine-themed activities after the sessions.

 Christine Chambers, Discovery and Learning Officer with Ulster Wildlife said: “Many people see the sea simply as a huge expanse of water, but in fact it is full of wonderful, charismatic creatures from leaping dolphins and playful seals to massive basking sharks, the world’s second largest fish.  We hope these eye-catching giants will inspire and excite children about what lies beneath the waves and encourage them to become future guardians of our seas.”

 Brian Carlin, Bombardier Aerospace (NI) Foundation trustee, added: “We’ve been supporting Ulster Wildlife’s preservation of local species for some time now by delivering workshops in classrooms on the plight of the barn owl.   So it seems a natural progression to include the marine environment, and our role in protecting it, in the education of young people.   These life-size replicas are an imaginative way to ignite schoolchildren’s interest in Northern Ireland’s rich shoreline and the many sea creatures that inhabit it.”  

To find out more about Ulster Wildlife’s innovative education programmes to help inspire people about nature, visit www.ulsterwildlife.org

Environment Minister, Mark Durkan helps pupils from Castle Gardens Primary School in Newtownards dip below the surface to discover more about the giant’s of our seas, as part of an exciting living seas education programme delivered by Ulster Wildlife. Also included from left  is Christine Chambers, Ulster Wildlife, George Mawhinney, Principal of Castle Gardens Primary School and Brian Carlin, Bombardier Aerospace NI Trustee.