Close to 40 Apii Avarua Year 8 students went on an enlightening science field trip to the CIC Ocean Science Centre.

This excursion aimed to deepen their knowledge of human interaction with marine ecosystems and the significant impacts these interactions have on both the environment and society.

CIC is a company in the Cook Islands seabed mineral exploration sector.

Students were guided on a tour of the various equipment, research labs, and storage facilities at the centre, followed by interactive activities.

Apii Avarua Year 8 student Isla Farmer enjoyed the excursion.

“It’s cool and it’s definitely a way to learn more about what CIC is doing when they’re going out on their boat and looking at all the nodules and the soil and even the water down there, so it’s really cool,” said Farmer.

Students were guided on a tour of the various equipment, research labs, and storage facilities at the centre, followed by interactive activities. MELINA ETCHES/ 25031814

“It’s all pretty cool honestly but seeing the Box Corer and the Multi-corer which is what they use to go down to see the deep that was most interesting.”

A Box corer is used for sampling of seafloor sediments and nodules for both resource estimation and environmental research.

Multi-corers are designed to recover undisturbed surface sediments from the bottom of the lake or sea.

Year 8 student Orion Inamata said he was most interested in the Cocobots activity as well as the Box corer and multi corer, “because it is amazing how they operate way down underneath the water.”

CICs’ environmental scientist Chloe Wragg said the field trip aimed to provide an overview of the sector, the research conducted including environmental impacts, and job opportunities within the sector.

Wragg said the goal was to help students understand the amount of work involved in developing a green energy product, as well as the various roles or personnel involved (e.g. engineer, environmental scientist, finance, CEO etc.), and help students better understand the end product these nodules support.

Jim and Mii Nimerota from Cocobots kindly brought their display to showcase the world of robotics.

CIC environmental scientist Chloe Wragg takes Apii Avarua students on a guided tour of the CIC Ocean Science Centre in Nikao. MELINA ETCHES/25031810

“This was to help students understand the real-life applications of robotics, particularly in deep ocean research,” said Wragg.

She said the most insightful question asked was about the specific builds and materials used for the various research equipment that are deployed 5,000 meters to the seafloor

“This was an excellent question because we do have to take into account the extreme temperature and pressure at the seafloor. All our equipment is built to withstand these conditions and must be sturdy. The question demonstrated that the students were critically thinking about the factors involved in deep ocean research, which was impressive,” said Wragg.

Apii Avarua teacher Pam Solomona said their study is based on looking at human interaction with the environment and how it affects people.

“Basically we’re looking at seabed minerals and its impacts with CIC showing us a presentation for the kids, also it’s an opportunity for the kids to learn more about what careers the company offers. Today, the students will be listening to a presentation by Kōrero o te Ōrau’s Dr Teina Rongo.