NORTH Haven Primary School students know better than most the importance of protecting our dolphins.

The school is the only one to run a program specifically designed to teach its students about the unique Port River dolphins and how to care for their environment.

Dolphin ranger program coordinator Catherine Anasson said there were 120 students in Years 3 to 7 volunteering in the program this year.

“This is their local community and we want them to be able to take care of it,” Mrs Anasson said.

“The Port River dolphins are so special – there aren’t many places in the world where you have dolphins right on your doorstep and educating them can have a big impact in hopefully allowing the dolphins to be enjoyed by future generations.”

media_camera Doc the dolphin playing in the Port River. Picture: Marianna Boorman

The program sees the students to spend a day training with experts – at the Maritime Museum for the younger children and kayaking at Garden Island for the older children, where they observe the dolphins.

They then spend the year learning about the local dolphin pod and the Port River eco-system and visiting the Australian Marine Wildlife Research and Rescue Organisation (AMWRRO) facility at Torrens Island to learn how injured marine wildlife are rescued, rehabilitated and released.

They also raise funds to support organisations such as AMWRRO and to sponsor their “adopted” dolphin, Ripple.

Tilly van Rens, Abi Petts and James McInnes, all aged 12, have been taking part in the program for the past five years.

“I have learnt that we can protect the dolphins by not littering and by making sure chemicals don’t go down the stormwater drain,” Abi said.

“We should protect the dolphins because they are special and they are a tourist attraction – people come from all over the world to see them,” Tilly said.

“I love how intelligent they are, how they can talk with others and how cute they are.”