Puha Wai
Year: 2021
Project Length: 24 Weeks
Post graduate honours project
University Project: Massey University Wellington, School of Design
New Zealand has one of the highest marine mammal stranding rates in the world, with over 400 strandings a year. PÅ«ha Wai is designed with the goal to increase the survival rate of whales at mass strandings.
PÅ«ha Wai is a sprinkler system that helps to keep the whales cool, calm, and comfortable. This sprinkler system was designed to reduce unnecessary human interaction to minimize the stress and discomfort that a whale experiences during a stranding.
Findings
System
Benifits
Excessive amounts of both noise and touch can become contributing factors to a whales death.
Redeploy the human effort and activity away from the animal, so that the system calls on them to assist in a way that is distant from the whales.
Puhawai has the potential to decrease mortalities at strandings, while operating with a limited numbers of volunteers and take care of multiple whale’s at once.
Thank you to those that helped me through out this project providing me with valuable insights and knowledge surrounding this natrual phenomen. The expertise and advice provided along the way has been exponential in the outcome of this project.
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Paranapa Otimi and Pauline Clarkin: Ngati Hako Kaumatua
Louisa Hawkes: Communication & Voulenteer Coordinator (Project Jonah)
Mike Ogle: Technical Adviser marine ranger (DOC)