Sea Snake Advert By Bailey E

WARNING! Poisonous Sea Snakes!

Yellow Bellied Sea Snakes are found in the north island.

There has been another sighting of a yellow bellied sea snake in northland. In NZ we now have a higher chance of sea snakes washing up on northlands shore. DOC says that we may have more and more sightings every year.

DOC advise all people stay away and report the snakes if they see one. These snakes have a deadly poison. It is said that one sea snakes venom can kill up to 8 humans. DOC also suggests that you warn beach goers about sea snakes if you see one because they are highly venomous and can breath on land. They say that you can’t kill, harass or possess a sea snake without a permit. Sea snakes are considered native in these parts which is why those things are illegal. Stay away from these creatures, they also deserve a nice life, just like we do. Make sure you keep well away from them as they are quick and vicious. If you find a sea snake or krait keep well away and call 0800 DOC HOT.

By Max and Gregor

Live Sea Snake Found on Northland Beach

Questions:

1. How are these marine snakes native to New Zealand?
2. How big do sea snakes get?
3. What could some appropriate actions for the disposal of these amphibious reptiles?
4. Why is the Ministry for Primary Industries involved with sea snakes?
5. They used to be killed on site, how has their relationship with humans changed?
6. It usually preys on fish, what else does it eat?
7. What kind of paralysis can be obtained from severe bites?
8. How recently have the other snakes been found?
9. What is the New Zealand Poisons Centre and what do they do?
10. What type of venom do they have?

This is what DOC’s law is but yet they advise people to kill them or bury them alive: It is therefore illegal to kill or harass a sea snake, or possess one or any part of one without a permit.

By Max and Gregor

Answers:

1. Their territory extends around the Pacific and they travel with ocean currents so New Zealand is part of their natural habitat
2. The biggest snake ever found was 1.13 meters (unsexed.) However they are normally between 0.6 metre to 1 metre.
3. Unable to find information.
4. The Ministry For Primary Industries is involved with the sea snakes due to their role in national biosecurity and their involvement in the New Zealand Fisheries.
5. Yellow Bellied Sea Snakes have never had great relationship with humans because of their deadly poison previously killed on sight. People are now advised to bury them so that they do not pose threat to anyone on the North Island’s beaches. However there is a law that you may not possess any part of a sea snake or harass it without a permit. If we keep on doing this without a formal or conservation styled procedure for the disposal or release of these animals then they might disappear altogether.
6. The Yellow Belly sea snake only eats fish it will get the fish by lying still in the water and fish will swim up to it thinking it’s a stick the snake will then ambush the fish.
7. The symptoms for venom injection by a sea snake are painful muscles, paralysis from hips down (legs), joint aches, blurry vision, Thick tongue or difficulty swallowing or speaking, excessive saliva production, vomiting and droopy eyelids. If the bite does paralyse it is most likely to be from the hips down.
8. There have been 35 confirmed sightings of Sea Snakes in New Zealand since 1930. That is a lot since there are not supposed to be snakes in New Zealand.,  
9. The New Zealand Poisons Centre is a 24h help providing centre that provides handy information if someone has been poisoned or if you are unsure of symptoms or what has just bitten you. They also collect samples of poisons to see what is dangerous and work out the best plan for avoiding it as well as providing information and programmes for schools.
10. The yellow bellied sea snakes venom contains LD50 poison. LD50 is an abbreviation for Lethal Dose 50%

Learning German!!!

Francis Brandywine By Eden M

Francis Brandywine

By Eden McLeod

On a cold Chicago night, I hear the rattle of a train as it passed my dusty bedroom window.  I was sitting at my small oak desk, rolling out my Quetico Park map.  Quetico Park takes up hundreds of acres of land with trees, campsites, tracks, and lakes.  I adored Quetico Park.  My family and I go camping there every year but we won't be going back anytime soon after what happened there last year……

Francis Brandywine was a dark haired, reckless, 17 year old girl who loved to be alone. Francis and her parents had been camping near one of the deeper lakes in the park. The very centre of this particular lake was rumoured to be around 300 feet and created by a passing glacier.

One night, Francis waited eagerly for her parents to go to sleep. An hour later, Francis was planting her quaint feet into her leather brown boots. So she left the shore, walked out on to the rickety pier and jumped into the old rowboat. She planned to find a quiet place in the middle of the lake, lay on the bench of the boat and write in her journal underneath the star- soaked sky.  She rowed for about 20 minutes and when she was satisfied that she was over the lake’s deepest spot she lay down on the bench, and looked up at the night sky and put a cigarette to her mouth. The stars were very bright tonight. She felt very peaceful.

She threw her smoke into the dark water beneath, then she heard something strange.  It was like a knock. Two gentle taps on wood. She sat up guessing that the boat had drifted to shore and run aground but she looked around the boat and she saw that she was still half a mile from shore. She leaned over to see if she could see anything but she saw nothing, no logs, no rocks, nothing. So she lay back down and told herself that it could be a number of things a frog, a turtle, a stick that had drifted to the side of the rustic boat. She relaxed and soon fell into a contented slumber. She had just closed her eyes when she heard the knocks again. Three crisp clean knocks. The horrid noise seems to be coming from underneath the boat. Now she felt terrified. She leaned over the side again. It had to be an animal, but what animal would knock like that? Her mouth went dry. She held onto both sides of the boat and waited for it to happen again.

The silence stretched out and just as she started to relax and think that she had imagined it all, the knocks then came louder. She had to leave. She lunged for the oars, knocking her lantern into the dark, murky water. The lake was calm so she  should have made good progress but, after rowing quickly, she realised she wasn't moving anywhere. Something was keeping her exactly where she was. She kept trying to row on the verge of tears, but she was going nowhere. Her muscles ached and she was exhausted. Her deep, raspy breaths, filled the air. She curled up in a ball and cried. She sobbed. Once she had calmed down she realised that all was silent. For 10 minutes, then 15, then 30. Again, she tricked herself into thinking it was just her imagination. But just like before, just when she was beginning to think she was safe and beginning to get a grip on herself, the knocks came again, this time as loud as a bass drum. The floorboards of the boat shaking vigorously with each knock. She made a questionable decision to dip an oar into the black water, and try to dislodge herself or at least, feel what was keeping her down. As the oar broke the surface however, a strong grip dragged it under water. She screamed and jumped back and hit the last remaining oar into the murky depths below. Now she had no options all she could do was sit, hope and wait, wait for morning to come and hope that whatever was going to happen, happen.  

The petrifying knocks went on through the lonely night. To pass the time she doodled in her journal about the knocks and everything. It is only because of this journal that we know what happened that night. Francis can’t tell us. She was never seen again. The boat was found on shore the next day, and in it, her notebook. Frantic pictures and entries in her distinctive handwriting, all pages but the last, which looked like it had been written fast with a muddy finger. And on this page, that truly make this a horror story, were the words “I DID KNOCK FIRST”

By Eden McLeod

The Golden Lancehead Pit Viper By Evelyn S

The Tundra Ecosystem By Eden M

The Arctic Ecosystem By Hannah F

Marine Ecosystem Poster By Alannah M

Arctic Ecosystem Poster by Bailey E

Francis Brandywine ~ Alannah M

Francis Brandywine

By Alannah M

It was a dark and misty night and Francis Brandywine was camping with her family at Quetico Park. Francis was a rather reckless teenager, she preferred to be alone with her journal in a quiet place writing about her daring adventures.

One night, the trees were still, the wind barely existed, which drew Francis to the glistening lake awaiting her. She glanced around the vast, land surrounding her, carefully, without making a sound, Francis crept to the nearby, old, rusty rowing boat. She picked up the oars and began to paddle to the deepest part of the lake.

As she reached her destination, Francis let go of the oars, laid back her head, and gazed up to the glistening star-filled sky. As she relaxed, a sudden ‘knock’ took her by surprise, she sat up, thinking the boat had drifted to shore, she peered into the deep, blurry water, but she hadn’t moved an inch. When Francis was satisfied that it was only an object of some sort, she lay back down to admire the silent night.

Ten minutes later, to Francis’ shock, another frightful and louder ‘knock’ echoed in the silence. She turned around slowly, shaking with fear, but nothing was to be seen.

She attempted to row back to shore, but she wasn’t moving. Using all her strength, Francis tried again and again, but she didn’t achieve a thing. She carefully laid back down, her mind swimming with thoughts.

Francis dipped her oar into the water, almost instantly it was dragged into the murky depths. She jumped back with impact, rocking the boat, now she was scared. Another ‘Knock, Knock, Knock’ shook the boat so ferociously it knocked Francis off her feet.

All she could do was wait for the morning to come, wait for whatever was going to happen next. She passed the time drawing in her journal, it was only because of her journal that we knew what happened that night. Francis was never to be seen again, what was only found the following morning was her journal, filled with her frantic drawings, but the last page, it contained only three words: 'I DID KNOCK FIRST.'

Francis Brandywine By Hannah F

Francis Brandywine

By Hannah F

I gazed at my map of Quetico park, it used to be my favourite place to visit until I heard the frightening story of a girl named Francis Brandywine.

Francis was a carefree 17 year old girl with pitch black hair and an adventurous personality. She wore a brown denim jumpsuit with ripped tights, a woolen hat and thick brown boots. Francis and her family regularly visit Quetico park, one year they were camping alongside one of the deeper lakes. Whilst her parents were asleep she snuck out of their tattered blue tent with her notebook and a lantern. She crept towards the family rowboat hearing nothing but the faint sound of crashing waves. She slowly paddled through the crisp cold water until she eventually believed that she had passed the deepest part of the lake.

Francis was relaxed, alone and in her own bubble. Francis lay down and gazed up into the sky of bulging neon stars. As time ticked by she was nearly asleep when suddenly she heard a loud knock, knock, knock she lept up with fear and she slowly turned around looking for the answer to her question, what was that? Her mouth went dry as she stood in silence she grabbed the ores with her slender arms and lowered them into the deep blue water. Nothing came back so she told herself that it could be anything from a  turtle to a stick so she lay back down and dreamt some more.

As ten more minutes passed she lay lonely in the boat, she was deserted it was exactly how she liked it. When she woke up she was so calm until suddenly she heard another series of knocks, it was coming from the bottom of the boat, this time they were crisper and louder. Francis grasped onto the ores of the boat as she reached for them she knocked her lamp into the water, leaving nothing but the light of her emerald eyes to guide her.

She started to move them at a rapid pace, it got to the time when her arms started to get tired, she realised something, she hadn’t moved at all something was holding it back. The suspense made her feel sick  and she was on the verge of crying, but she was trying to be brave and keep the tears in. She glanced around at her surroundings hoping that someone was going to come and rescue her, but no she was completely deserted, isolated. Francis curled into a ball and rocked herself back and forth until suddenly the boat started to shake and then it rocked from side to side. She stood up hoping for it to stop. Francis peered into the deep blue water looking for a creature underneath the boat.

She lowered her ores into the crisp water but she felt nothing, she attempted to replace the ore back into her boat but as she maneuvered her ore it slipped and she accidentally let go of it. It slowly drifted away. All of Francis’ hope was lost. She had no options but to stay put in the boat for the night. The knocking continued all throughout the night. To pass the time Francis wrote in her brown notebook that was filled with many creative ideas, she doodled and wrote in her memories and that was the last we have heard of Francis.

It was only because of her notebook that we know what happened that night.  She can’t reveal to us what happened but her notebook did give us a clue, every one of Francis’ pages in her book was filled with technical stories and many detailed drawings except for her last page which read, I did knock first written in rushed writing and had been written with muddy fingers and Francis was never seen again.

Writing - Francis Brandywine - By Rebecca Thwaites

Francis

I never had any adventures in the suburbs of Chicago, but we did go camping at Quetico Park. Quetico Park was isolated, that we went days on end without seeing anyone. I loved it there but there’s no way I will go back, after what happened to Francis Brandywine.

Francis was camping at Quetico Park with her family. She never wanted to go, out there, there is no WiFi or reception, and this doesn’t exactly appeal to a reckless 17 year old girl. One night, she wanted to go to the deepest part of the lake on a boat so she could look up to the stars, have a smoke and write in her journal. Waiting until her family was sound asleep, Francis snuck out, put on her black Doc Martens boots, grabbed a lamp and she headed out to the lake.

The boat was old, wooden and rusty. Francis sighed as she gently rowed to the deepest part of the lake. The lake was made out of a melted ice glacier, the silent black water would be freezing. Francis gently rowed and rowed until she was content that she was over the deepest part of the lake, she lay down and looked up to the clear night sky.

About an hour had past and Francis was just about asleep. Suddenly she heard a crisp, clear knock of the bottom of the wooden boat. This disturbed her and she suddenly sat up, her jet black hair sprawled across her face. Francis peered over the edge of the boat to see if she had drifted ashore. But her reflection only stared back at her. Francis reassured herself that it was nothing, lay back down and continued to gaze up at the stars.

After 10, 20 minutes, there was a loud knock once again, Francis nerves were rattled. Gently reaching out to the still water, her slender finger brushing over the water surface, to see if anything was there. She thought that it was a turtle or a fish, or some other type of creature. But she couldn’t escape the fact that no animal or creature would make a clear knocking sound like a human knocking loudly on a brass door. Francis tricked herself into believing it was nothing, she sat back down and continued to write in her journal.

An hour later, just when she believed she had imagined it all, the third knock came and the boat was knocked side to side. BANG, BANG, BANG, and this time it was loud as a bass drum. Francis screamed. She knew that she need to get out of the lake and fast. Grabbing the oars, she rowed and rowed. Her breathing became quicker and salty tears were threatening to escape. Suddenly she stopped and realised that the boat hadn’t moved a centimetre. Usually, since the water was calm, she would have made quick progress. Something was keeping Francis and the boat from moving.

After a while, Francis manage to calm herself and thought that it was time to take some extraordinary measures. She grabbed an oar and dipped it into the calm water, waving it around to see if there was anything there. The oar was suddenly pulled down by an invisible force. This caused Francis to tumble back, tipping the other oar over the side. Francis. Was. Stranded.

Her teeth chattered and Francis curled up in a ball. Slowly she sat up and to past time, wrote in her journal, describing every movement and sound. Waiting for whatever to happen, happen.

The next day, they found the boat, which was washed to shore. Inside it, there was Francis’ journal. It is only because of this journal, that we know what happened. When they found the journal, the last page was still wet. Written with a bloody finger, it said, “I DID KNOCK FIRST.” Francis Brandywine was never seen again.

By Rebecca Thwaites

Francis Brandywine By Bailey E

Francis Brandywine

Every year, we go up to Quetico park for a holiday. It used to be my favourite place and then I heard what happened to a girl called Francis Brandywine.

Francis was 17 at the time, dark haired with a reckless nature. She and her family were at Quetico park camping alongside an ancient lake. One silent night, whilst her parents were sleeping, Francis crept out of the tent and grabbed a lantern and her journal. She tiptoed down to the family rowboat and rowed out onto the lake meaning to find a nice quiet spot to sit down look at the night sky and write in her journal.

When Francis was satisfied that she had passed the deepest part of the lake, she lay down and gazed at the stars. As time ticked by, Francis was just drifting off to sleep a knock echoed out from the bottom of the boat. Francis sat up scared and peered out over the sides of the boat. She saw nothing. She lay back down and told herself that she had imagined it. Silence went on for another 10 then 20 minutes. Suddenly, the second series of knocks came.

Francis jumped up and grabbed an oar and adapted a fighting stance, looking anxiously around. She saw nothing. Francis sat down and looked out of the boat. She put a cautious hand into the water and her throat went dry. She had to go. She picked up the oars and began to row dropping her lantern at the same time. After 20 minutes of frantic rowing, she looked around. She should have been back at shore by now. On the verge of tears, she hugged her knees. Something was keeping her in the middle of the lake.

When the third series of knocks came, Francis was thrown around in the boat. She peered out over the sides again but saw nothing except for the dark murky water. Her first thought was to lower one of the oars into the water to see if there was anything that she could touch. As soon as the oar broke the surface, Francis felt a strong tug and the oar was pulled under. Horrified, she jumped backwards, causing the other oar to float out of her reach. All she could do now, was sit and wait until morning. She passed the time by writing in her journal. It was because of this journal that we knew what happened that night. Francis can’t tell us because she was never seen again.

The next morning we found the rowboat containing only the journal. It was filled with Francis’s messy handwriting, all but the last page. Four words were written with what looked like a muddy finger. It held the words, “I did knock first.”

By Bailey Everest

Marine Ecosystem by Alannah M

The Arctic Ecosystem By Hannah F

Inquiry ~ Arctic Ecosystems ~ By Bailey E

Inquiry - How do humans affect the marine ecosystem? By Rebecca Thwaites

The Bald Eagle by Evelyn

The Scarlet Ibis by Holly R

North American Birds by James

Birds of the Amazon by Nikita

The Bald Eagle by Alannah

Seabirds by Bella

Seabirds by Chlarissa

Birds of North America by Emily B

The Scaret Ibis by Hannah F

The Hoatzin by Eden

Birds of the Amazon by Gregor

The Toucan by Max C

The Toucan by Rebecca