There was a great excitement on the last day of term for pupils from Moneystown National School when the SEA LIFE team called to the school to present eight pupils with prizes for their entries into a colouring competition to celebrate the recent birth of a tropical stingray.
In April there were huge celebrations when the first tropical Stingray was born at the National SEA LIFE Centre, believed to be the first ever born in Ireland.
SEA LIFE Bray launched an education pack on Stingrays and a colouring competition to involve schools in the local area in the historic event.
The judges praised the pupils for their ‘imagination and artistic licence’. The Moneystown winners, all of whom were presented with Family passes for SEA LIFE to visit the baby stingray , were Rueben Glavin-Foy (Jun Infants), Saoirse Byrne (Sen Infants), Ayisha Glavin-Foy (1st class), Louise Murphy (2nd class), Louise –May O’Shaughnessy (3rd class), Ciaran Byrne (4th class), Sean McHugh (5th class) and Alannah McHugh (6th class).
The SEA LIFE team then visited Greystones Educate Together where Riley Justise fom 1st class was a prize winner and then on to St Philomena’s Primary School in Ravenswell in Bray which had two winners – Maya Rosiak (Jun Infants) and Poppy Nolan (Sen Infants). Naomh Peadar National School also had a winner, Marie Delaney from 2nd class.
The pupils had all coloured in pictures of the as yet unnamed baby. Managing Director at SEA LIFE Bray, Pat O’Suilleabhain said he was delighted with the response to the new arrival and he praised the pupils for the work they had put into their entries for the competition. ‘It is great to see our local schools taking such an interest in conservation and in the birth of the baby ray. Young people from all over the county have been coming to SEA LIFE to see the new arrival for themselves and I think she is already enjoying the attention!’
