Saving Whale Sharks with the Gordon Primary School in Australia
The Gordon School class of 3rd and 4th grade budding conservationists with the whale shark and the certificate of adoption from Marine Megafauna Foundation. Says Mr. Waghchoure, “The kids were very excited to adopt the whale shark. They were persuading me that it would be a good thing because then we can make a difference in the life of this animal and create awareness to protect the species. Image Thanks to the Gordon School and ©Mr. Waghchoure
Roberta Kravette.
The kids in Mr. Waghchoure’s class of 3rd and 4th graders in Canberra, Australia have a mission – they want to save the largest fish on the planet: whale shark. It's a tall order for a group of young primary school students, but these caring kids have enthusiasm and ideas they want to share. And that is where sustainable change begins.
Under Mr. Waghchoure’s guidance, the children studied the life cycle, threats to, and conservation of the endangered whale sharks, but they wanted more. A few weeks ago the class e-mailed Destination: Wildlife. Perhaps they had seen our Field Guide to Whale Sharks?
Compassion for the big fish’s plight runs deep in the stories and drawings like this one by ©Aaliyah
✓ Tips
What: Whale Sharks & Kids
Who: Gordon School 3rd and 4th grade.
Where: Canberra, New South Wales, Australia
Best Place to See Wild Whale Sharks in Australia: Ningaloo Reef. More
That happy contact led to a fun international ZOOM session where the kids asked some tough questions. The beautiful thing about young children is that they do not pull their punches; they expect answers, truth, and logic from adults. But unfortunately, even scientists know very little about these sea giants.
I invited the kids to share with me what they have learned so far, and they did in the form of letters, stories, posters and comic strips - and I learned a bit about how kids put their world together.
✍︎ Editors Note: All the writing and artwork from the children is presented exactly as they prepared it. Please direct any request for permission to copy or reproduce it in any format to the Gordon School in Canberra, Australia.
Please Help Me! Whale Sharks are Endangered
In his poster, ©Dylan combined the top 5 Facts about whale sharks with an image of how easily they can be hurt by careless humans, and noted that other sharks are under threat, too.
The one thing I learned from the children’s art work and stories is that the term “endangered” has added dimensions for children, it’s personal and it hurts. Compassion for the animal’s plight runs deep in all their work. This story by one student, Brooke F. sums it up.
©Justin reminds us that the whale shark areb endangered because humans cut off their fins and meat. He also sites climate change and pollution.
All About Me.
A Whale Shark’s Story By Brooke F.
‘Hi there, I’m a whale shark and I’ve been endangered for 75 years. I am a big fish, and I am scared of boats and pollution. One day I was swimming near the surface of the ocean to find food. Suddenly a big fat boat came by and its propeller cut off the skin from my back. I was in so much pain that I swam back to my home and I noticed that my family WASN’T THERE!!!!
I was sad that my family wasn’t there. What if they took them to the zoo? Then I heard some moaning and when I went to look at what it was, I saw that my family had lots of scratches on their backs. They were sick and injured. Then a big vet boat came and I chased it until it stopped for me. I was glad that it stopped. I brought it to my family. Some doctors jumped into the water and swam down with me to see my family.
They saw my family lying there in pain. They called more people to come and rescue us. My family and I feel safe, but many more of us are still not safe. Please help us, we are the whale sharks.
An Injured Whale Shark Gets Help From Some Friends
In this comic strip story by ©Evelyn, a whale shark named Brooke turns to her sea friends after a boat propeller hurts her. The story continues below.
Even the sea creatures remember to say “thank you” to their friends. ©Evelyn
A few of the children wrote letters in which they shared good, sensible ideas about how to protect whale sharks.
Whale Shark Conservation Ideas in Letters and Posters
©Anaya reminds us the “world’s biggest fish” are also “gentle fishies” and she has no-nonsense ideas about helping them.
Dear Roberta
My name is Cooper L. I go to Gordon p.s in Canberra. I haven’t seen a whale shark before but I’d love to. My teacher has taught me about whale sharks. I have learnt that whale sharks are filter feeders. Sadly whale sharks are endangered. The threats to these animals are the sharp blades of boat propellers that injure them. Another threat is that people are fishing and they get stuck in nets. We can help the whale sharks by not doing illegal poaching.
Thank you for reading my letter. From Cooper
Dear Roberta
My name is Harrison. I go to Gordon primary school in Canberra. My teacher has taught me a lot about whale sharks.One threat to whale sharks is that when tourist boats visit the animals, the sharp propellers of the boats cut the skin of the whale sharks. This hurts them and they get scared.My teacher has also taught me that whale sharks grow up to 12 metres. They also have 3000 tiny teeth and can swim with their mouth open throughout the ocean. They have a filtering system. I think humans can help these fantastic species by not polluting the ocean. That means do not leave your rubbish at the beach. We can also help them, by not invading their space when we go to see them or touching them.
Thank you for reading my letter. From Harrison.
WHAT THEY DO TO ME
A Whale Shark’s Story By Angelina J.
This poster by ©Michael reminds us that whale sharks are filter eaters, they eat plankton and small fish.
Hi I am a whale shark! I don’t see many whale sharks around because since 2016 we have been endangered. I have spots all over my body and 3000 tiny teeth but I don’t bite. As I told you I have not seen many whale sharks around.
My mum always says to my dad that there are only 199,000 to 238,000 whale sharks left today.
You humans know nothing about us. I have been looking for food but I can not find any. My children are growing hungry. We have been avoiding fishing nets, boats and people that are trying to kill me and my children.
One day me and my children were swimming with a friendly human when suddenly the human sent a signal to another human and that human went to the surface and then a boat came hovering above us and then it lowered a fishing net and me and my children did not have time to swim away. It catches us and brings us to the surface. I can not breathe neither can my children. Then finally I die and so do my children.
Then they sell me and my children for money. They sell my meat, oil and my skin.
You humans can help me by: stop fishing near me and cutting off my fins with your propellers. Swim to me instead of bringing boats so you don’t hurt us with your boat propellers. Stop hurting me because we don't hurt you, stop illegal poaching because I don’t eat you and I let you swim with me. I am the biggest fish in the world. Help me please would you want me to go extinct? By Angelina J.
The Gordon School places a strong emphasis on respect and appreciation - the kids practice it and so do their sea creatures.
We can Help Whale Sharks
A Letter from Abi C.
My name is Abi.C. and I go to Gordon p.s. in Canberra.
I have never seen a whale shark before but I would like to see one.
My wonderful teacher, Mr. Waghchoure has taught me about whale sharks and how they can grow up to 12 metres long.
Sadly whale sharks are endangered. The threats to the animals are the sharp blades of the boat propellers that injure them. Another threat is that people are fishing and we get stuck in nets.
We can help the whale sharks not get them stuck in nets. Thank you for reading my letter.
From Abi.C.
The Children’s Experience With Whale Sharks
Ningaloo Reef on Australia’s western coast is famous for whale sharks, but they can be seen on the east coast, too, where the Gordon School is located as well as at Canberra’s National Zoo and Aquarium. In the following letters, some of the children excitedly shared that they have seen the giant fish with their own eyes.
©Amelia reminds us to, “Keep a safe distance” and “Please don’t fish near us!”
A Letter From Ben K.
Dear Roberta,
My name is Ben.K and I go to Gordon primary school in Canberra. I have seen a Whale shark in our National Zoo & Aquarium.My teacher has taught me about Whale sharks. I have learnt that tourist boats chopped the whale shark's skin with the propeller blades.
Sadly, whale sharks have been an endangered species since 2016. The threats to these animals are illegal fishermen catching them for their meat, oil and skin.
How can we help the whale sharks? We can help these animals by not going too close to them on a boat and also putting up warning signs near the area where they are sighted.
Thank you for reading about why we need to look after these beautiful animals. From, Ben
A Letter From Jackson O’B
Dear Roberta,
My name is Jackson and I go to Gordon Primary in Canberra. I have seen a real whale shark in the ocean with my mum and my teacher has taught me about whale sharks. I have learnt that they have 3000 tiny teeth and they are the biggest fish in the fishing world.
Sadly whale sharks are endangered. The threats these animals are the sharp blades of the boat propellers that injure us. Another threat is that people are fishing and we get stuck in the nets.
©Riley would like us to #stop driving boats” into his favorite fish. His is impressed by their #streamlined body and wide flattened” heads
We can help the whale sharks by not going near them in boats. Also when we go to see a whale shark, we need to swim at least 3 metres (4 metres if you are near the tail) away from the whale shark.
Thank you for reading. From, Jackson O’B Grade 3.
A Letter From Rainier
Dear Roberta,
My name is Rainer and I go to GordonPS in Canberra. I have seen a whale shark in the ocean. My teacher has taught me about whale sharks. I have learnt that whale sharks can migrate in a group or alone.
Sadly, whale sharks are endangered. The threats to these animals are getting hunted for money. Another threat is they keep getting hit by tourist boat propellers.
We can help whale sharks by stopping dumping plastic, and rubbish in the ocean. We can also help them by not touching them when we swim near them.
Thank you for reading, From Rainer
In this comic strip, ©Casey’s whale shark loves swimming but soon find’s itself in trouble.
Kindness and Conservation in a Child’s World
This last story from Thomas F. shows how deeply the children feel about the natural world and their wildlife neighbors.
©Cameron notes, “Eating is laborious work” and whale sharks are endangered by “fisherman nets, hunted, and propellers”
My Escape from Danger
A Story By Thomas F.
Hi, my name is Ace. I'm a whale shark. We have been endangered for a long time. My dad passed away a while ago so it's just me, my mum Alice and my brother Nick. My mum and my brother protect me and we move around lots to stay away from threats. So far we have been to a coral reef, to deep dark water and nice warm tropical water.
“ahh help” my family was gone I was too late I couldn't stop it. They got captured by a huge fishing net. I was living on my own. Now I'll have to make some changes.
“A boat! I got to hide. A net comes and traps me. The boat was lifting me up onto a ship. Suddenly a girl saw me struggling to get out and cut the net away. I swam as fast as I could to avoid the threat.
I was lucky this time. Many of my other kind probably wouldn’t have survived. I wish humans were more nice to me, like the girl who saved me.
In this poster ©Nevaeh reminds us that, “I do not harm humans” Her whale shark is lonely, endangered, and imperiled by human misbehavior.
Children have an uncanny ability to find simple solutions to complex problems. If doing something hurts someone (or something) – then stop doing it, find a different way that is good for everyone. Adults call that a win-win. Finding that balance point is the fair thing to do - and something we adults seem to have forgotten.
The Gordon School's "Gordon Gold" is a set of values taught and communicated across all subjects and interactions. In my interactions with the class, and the artwork, letters, and stories they presented, the Gordon Gold values are clear, but so is an exciting by-product: Empathy. Arguably the foundation for all that is good and fair.
Responsibility. Honesty. Tolerance. Respect.
That's Gordon Gold, and as I see it, offers hope for the future of whale sharks and the planet.
I asked how he’d keep the kids enthused about conservation going forward. Say’s Mr Waghchoure, I hope to get students to independently research more about whale sharks and how the conservation projects are going to save these animals. They will be exposed to links and more videos about whale sharks from the websites you have provided me. Nice to know we can help.