Blake NZ-VR came to Sancta to educate us about our oceans. The 1-hour session kept us engaged, taking us on a tour of our oceans, showing us how they are changing. Just sitting on our seat in a classroom using VR headsets we got 360˚ videos which were so realistic that we felt like holding our breath when we were underwater! We could also swim with a variety of sea animals without getting wet!
The videos were taken from places around NZ like the Poor Knights, Three Kings Islands and overfished areas in the Hauraki Gulf. Some waters were so murky we could only see a dark greenish surrounding and pollution. But some waters were crystal clear with thousands of fish and we were pleasantly surprised when the Blake educator said the video was filmed 30 metres underwater!
We discussed in groups, which environments were healthy and which weren’t. This showed students the importance and urgency that action is needed to help the dying ocean. It also helped students understand the benefits of having marine protected areas as the water in these areas was crystal clear, pollution free and had a variety of sea animals.
According to Blake NZ-VR, “If we can’t take every child to the ocean, let’s bring the ocean to every child.” And that’s exactly what the virtual reality video did!
Year 10 Jennifer Zeng loved the opportunity to see the ocean with a new perspective. “It was such an amazing experience and being able to look into the sea with our own eyes made the reality of what happens in our oceans seem so much more real,” she said.
Some ways we can help the ocean is by picking up litter and fishing sustainably. This experience left us inspired to do something to protect the vulnerable ocean.
Cyprus Causer
