Prep News

Aquarium Excursion 

On Wednesday 15 November, the Prep children had their first ever excursion! There was much excitement and chatter on the buses on the way into the city. When we got to the aquarium, we had some time to eat our morning tea beside the river and then we all headed into SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium.

The Preps were so excited as they entered the aquarium. Each group had their own guide to show us around and share their knowledge with us! Everyone loved the clown fish, sharks, seahorses and the penguins!

Prep A

We asked lots of interesting questions like, “How often does the crocodile get fed?”. We learnt a lot about marine life and what we can do to make sure their ocean home stays safe.

There are lots of different types of sharks which come in all different shapes and sizes. We saw some sharks which live in Port Phillip Bay, such as Banjo sharks and Port Jackson sharks, we also saw a Leopard shark. We thought the shark eggs were a very interesting shape!

Prep B

We saw lots of bright coloured fish. The reason they are so brightly coloured is so that they can hide among the coral!

Pinjara the crocodile is 5m long and weighs 750kg! Saltwater crocodiles live in the rivers and the oceans of Queensland. Saltwater crocodiles are reptiles and need to lie in the sun to keep warm. Crocodiles can go without food for up to 6 months!! They were almost extinct in the 1950s and 1960s, because they’re delicious to eat and their skin used to be used for shoes, belts and handbags. They are now a protected species, and they are no longer endangered.

We learnt that our discarded plastic items can end up in the mangroves and hurt the baby fish, and turtles can mistake plastic bags for sea jellies and eat them! We must be very careful where we leave our rubbish, so it doesn’t end up in the ocean.

Prep C

We saw the beautiful King penguins, which are the second biggest species in the world. We also saw some Gentoo penguins. Penguins sleep, eat and do everything in the water except for when they moult or lay their eggs. Penguins touch flippers while they sleep in the ocean, so they don’t float away, and they only sleep for around 20 minutes at a time! We even got to see the Gentoo penguins lying on their eggs to keep them warm in their pebble nests.

On the way home, we stopped off at Thomas Street Park to enjoy our lunch and have a bit of a play. What a busy and fun day we had!