Looking for blue penguins, setting up homes for skinks and wetas and caring for native plants were all new experiences for 14 Dunedin high school pupils yesterday.
Pupils from St Hilda's, Queen's, King's, Bayfield, Otago Boys' and Taieri College joined the Department of Conservation on its annual blue penguin nest hunt as part of the Pukekura Penguin conservation project at Pilots Beach, before heading off to care for other fauna and flora.
They then watched the penguins come ashore to nest last night.
Royal Albatross Centre educator Laura O'Brien said it was all about getting the pupils to develop a passion for their ''own backyard''.
''The wildlife is here for them. They in turn will want to protect them. [It's about] instilling a love for conservation and the animals around here,'' she said.
Taieri College pupil Jacob Will (14) said pupils had to register their interest to be a part of the experience. He was particularly interested in the blue penguins.
''I thought it would be interesting. I've never done anything like this before.''
Cameron O'Connell (13), also of Taieri College, said he was looking forward to learning about how to ''protect them [blue penguins]''.
Royal Albatross Centre Taiaroa Head manager of operations Hoani Langsbury said nests had been counted regularly for 23 years.
Once that had been done, nests were checked to determine how many were in use, with a view to tagging the birds.
It was the first time the project had had school pupils assisting.
In all, 73 nests were identified, which was about a third of the estimated total number.
Seven-week-old chicks were also spotted, as were several penguin pairs sitting on eggs.
It was hoped up to 350 blue penguins would be in the area by December, Mr Langsbury said.
Despite recent reports of a drop in yellow-eyed penguin numbers in the region, the number of blue penguins this season was looking good.
The last time yellow-eyed penguin numbers were down, blue penguins flourished.
''We think it's because of what we are doing [here],'' Mr Langsbury said.
''We're hoping that [a] marine scientist will help us work out what the difference is between yellow and blues.''
