Education from the ocean into homes

Using social media to take education from the aquarium out to the community is keeping the National Aquarium of New Zealand team busy while working from home during the Level 4 COVID-19 lockdown.

Caring for wildlife is an essential service that continues to be undertaken by the Aquarium’s animal team. This team is also working closely with the Aquarium’s education team to create unique ways of connecting with their large social media fan base and the wider community.

“The team are relishing the challenge of finding new and creative ways to keep everyone updated and engaged during these unprecedented times,” says Rachel Haydon, National Aquarium General Manager.

“We’ll have videos of our animal keepers hard at work caring for our residents, weekly quizzes, lessons with our educators and links to awesome documentaries with activity ideas you can do at home. There is a lot we are working on to help us all stay connected!”

The National Aquarium started sharing activities on social media last Wednesday, and will be doing so each day at 9.00am. 

Felicity Kibble, Visitor Experiences Marketing Advisor for Napier City Council says “We’re using all forms of technology as part of this process, including video conferencing between teams to brainstorm ideas and confirm schedules. We’ll also set up a landing page on our new website so teachers can easily access and share to their students.  We can still be connected even though we’re working from various locations across Hawke’s Bay.” 

Follow the National Aquarium of New Zealand on Facebook.

The National Aquarium of New Zealand is considered ‘Any entity whose closure would jeopardise the maintenance of animal health or welfare standards (including the short-term survival of a species). They’re assuring followers that their team have systems and processes in place to stay safe while working.

30 March 2020

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