Last meal
Tom Trnski has had a good look inside our sunfish’s stomach. He’s discovered that the last meal the sunfish probably ate was jellyfish – tasty for sunfish, but not so tasty for us! Inside the stomach...
View ArticleSunfish: what do we know?
What have we learnt from our day of sunfish science? Sunfish are very hard to sex! The best we can say is that it’s a boy. We think. We’ll have to wait for the test results to determine conclusively...
View ArticleSchool’s in for sunfish science
On Monday morning 30 students from Brooklyn school huddled around a table in Te Papa’s fish lab. They were here to get a rare glimpse of a very rare fish – a sharp-tail sunfish. While the fish was...
View ArticleSunfish science on Radio NZ
Thanks to Radio NZ for featuring our sharp-tail sunfish on Our Changing World. It’s great to hear the specimen talked about so enthusiastically and knowledgeably. We’re looking forward to bringing you...
View ArticleThe sunfish has a name!
As part of Te Papa’s Sunfish Science Extravaganza, a competition was run for school classes to come up with a name for our sharp tail sunfish. We got some very creative and witty suggestions and...
View ArticleCan early years children learn from live science?
Our sunfish science extravaganza was a huge hit with adult science enthusiasts from across New Zealand – and worldwide! But could the same setup work for very young children? Mel Dash, one of Te Papa’s...
View ArticleKhandallah kids go ‘behind the scenes’
Readers may remember that as part of sunfish science extravaganza, a group of Khandallah School students won our competition to name the fish. Their winning name was Sunny Bill, and this morning they...
View ArticleKhandallah kids go ‘behind the scenes’– a student’s response
On Monday, I wrote a blog about Khandallah School’s visit to our bird and insect collection. It was clear to me that the students had a wonderful time – but why not let them tell you that! This post...
View ArticleStrange findings at the beach
Tell our scientists which coastal creatures you’d like to know more about in Science Live: Coastal creatures. Email sciencelive@tepapa.govt.nz with your suggestions! Walking along many of the beaches...
View ArticleColossal New Addition to Te Papa’s Scientific Collections
Today we’ve been hearing about the most recent addition to Te Papa’s scientific collections, a new colossal squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. We’re playing host to a dozen or so media representatives...
View ArticleScientists meet Scientists: ECE ‘Back of House’ visits (Group 2: Kiwi Kids ECE)
Throughout 2015, young children from three Wellington regional Early Childhood Centres (ECE) have been thinking and working as scientists as part of the ‘It’s a Bugs Life’ partnership project with Te...
View ArticleNew sunfish discovered
Sunfishes (family Molidae) are large, distinctive, oceanic fishes found worldwide. Scientists generally agree there are two species of sunfish – the oceanic sunfish (Mola mola) and the bump-headed or...
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