The children have been learning about the Maui dolphin as part of the Inquiry process and through reading and writing lessons

The Māori name for the Maui dolphin is Popoto.

Popoto means 'short' in reo Māori - a fitting name for the world's smallest dolphin, don't you think?!

 Through their research, the children found out that there are only an estimated 55 Popoto alive today, rendering this taonga on the verge of extinction. The biggest threat to their survival comes from the practice of drag net fishing. The children are passionate about doing whatever they can do help Popoto so at present we are beginning to learn the structure of the persuasive writing genre so they can write to Minister of Fisheries, Stuart Nash, to ask him to outlaw fishing with nets in the Popoto habitat.