# The kids won!!



## kakariki (Dec 17, 2008)

Newsflash! It was announced today that Milang Campus, Eastern Fleurieu School has won the Channel Ten Environment Award. $5,000!! We won the $2,000 award as well & I have to say the kids certainly deserve it for the fantastic work they have done rescuing & rehabilitating the turtles. Below are some pics of how the $2,000 was spent. The Eyewitness news crew will be at the school tomorrow & we have been able to round up a few kids to be there for the presentation. It will be broadcast tomorrow night on the news, as far as I know. Woohoo, you kids ROCK!!!


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## andyscott (Dec 17, 2008)

Only $2000 for an enclosure like that.
Im putting one in my backyard


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## kakariki (Dec 17, 2008)

We had heaps of volunteers putting that together. It would have been heaps more with labour & the local businesses have also donated money for it. Worth every cent & hour too I might add!


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## Leezel73 (Dec 17, 2008)

Thats fantastic!!!


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## Australis (Dec 18, 2008)

Are they turtle shells on the table? 

Could you give some information on how the enclosure pictured
will be utilized, im genuinely interested.


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## kakariki (Dec 18, 2008)

Australis said:


> Are they turtle shells on the table?
> 
> Could you give some information on how the enclosure pictured
> will be utilized, im genuinely interested.



Yes, they are Australis. They are the ones that didn't survive & are kept there as a display. The enclosure currently hold about 100 turtles and in the corners are some tubs for sick/ weak turts that are not ready to go to the pond area. I guess you could call it a halfway house for turtles, lol. We grow them & rehab them here, then they go on to other places either for breeding or release. The flow-on from that, of course, is that our kids are getting right into the environment & are learning just how damaging we can be to our surroundings. The Investigator College at Goolwa ( which is about 30km from here further down the river system) has dwarfed our enclosure with their breeding ponds & sancturay. (Unfortunately I haven't any pics of it.) We are but a small part of a huge network that are all trying to save the turtles & the Murray system before it's too late! If it isn't already.....


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## moosenoose (Dec 18, 2008)

That is superb! Good on them!


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## LullabyLizard (Dec 18, 2008)

Wow thats fantastic!


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## Kris (Dec 18, 2008)

That's fantastic. Well done to them!

Kersten


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## Jay84 (Dec 18, 2008)

Thats great Kakariki! i wish i had gone to a school which was so environmentally focused as this one. just one question.... 

what is wrong with the turtles that are rescued? 

can u try and sneak into the college down the road and get pics of their setup? lol


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## kakariki (Dec 18, 2008)

See my thread Turtles of the Lake. It has been closed but all the info is there & this is just a "next installment". I am certainly going to try to get some pics ( I'll blame you, Jay ,if I get caught, lol!. ) Another thing we are going to try is making our own turlte blocks. My kids & a friend went fishing the other day & caught around 30 Carp! And they were huge! Because you are not allowed to put them back, they were just left for the foxes, which seems such a waste. ( 4 made it to my freezer for experimentation, lol ) So, we thought we would try mincing some up with bloodworms, freezing them & see if the turts will eat them. One of the teachers has access to a mincer via her dad, who is a local fisherman. I will keep you posted!


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## Jay84 (Dec 18, 2008)

i Just finished reading your thread ''turtles of the lake''. i have only just come back from OS for 5 years so have been unaware of the effect and your project. its just devastating to see these poor things drowning or dieing from weakness and salt poisoning. The poor female turtle that u found in the puddle all chewed up was heartwrenching, when i read in the later post she passed away i welled up with tears. this is awful and just shouldnt be happening. what does it take before something is done by the government?!?!?!

all i can say is a huge well done to you and the kids. not only are u doing a great job rescuing turtles but gettin such media coverage on the issue is obviously opening naive ppls eyes to the problems. If i had the money to come and offer help id be there but im currently looking for work. Maybe after i have found work i could come up during holiday time and help out.

well done and congratulations on such a good job.

Jay


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## Slytherin (Dec 19, 2008)

Congrats to the kids for a job well done! They are doing such a great thing and deserve to be acknowledged for it. If only the Government would help out some more and save our precious Murray and Lower Lakes!!!


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## coz666 (Dec 19, 2008)

i stand and applaud. exellent work


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## RedEyeGirl (Dec 19, 2008)

Ap: How big is it? GREAT WORK! It is so cool. Tell all the kids to keep it up!


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## Vincent21 (Dec 20, 2008)

I want to get one of those in my backyard


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