A drama with a drain during the recent rains has claimed the lives of a large amount of the fish in Kingscliff High’s Marine Biology room, but it hasn’t dented the teachers’ enthusiasm for the subject.
Teacher Simon Byrne said it was a freak accident that saw the fish die on Australia Day – despite making it right through the holidays.
“A staff member came in through the holidays and kept an eye on them,” he said.
“He was in on the Wednesday and everything looked great.”
Mr Byrne said the collapsed drain, since repaired by council, meant that the torrential rain of the Wednesday night could not drain away and instead came under the door and shorted out a motor which tripped the electrics and shut down the whole system. This unfortunately left the fish without oxygen.
By the time the teachers and staff returned on the Friday, it had been heartbreakingly too late for the fish.
However he said the whole system had been fixed so it could never happen again.
Fortunately while the bigger fish were lost some of the smaller ones and all of the coral survived and while Mr Byrne said it was a setback it certainly won’t stop them from continuing to expand the program.
Late last year a fun run by the students saw $5000 raised for the Marine Biology section. The money had been ear-marked to help expand the program and introduce a touch tank and other new displays.
He said they had yet to decide whether to use the money for the new equipment or to buy more fish and would consult with the students. Although he promised that there would still be a touch tank and more much-needed displays, whatever they did with the money.
Marine biology is part of the science faculty and is an elective in year 9 and 10 and a HSC subject for 11 and 12 under the watchful eye of Mr Byrne, Tom McLean and Kelly Todoroska.
“This is a set back but we can’t go back now,” he said of the school’s Marine Biology lab.
He said the displays allowed the student’s a hands on approach rather than just sitting in a classroom.
Mr Byrne vowed they would continue to move forward and it would all be back bigger and better than ever.
