Limerick Competition

Help Hoiho! Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust’s Limerick Competition

This competition is now finished with around  3,000 stunning entries!  Thank you to all limerick writers from all over New Zealand.  Writers have included students in Kidz First hospital for treatment and from earthquake-ravaged Christchurch. The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trustees have judged the competition for the most entertaining and effective limerick  that refers to the theme of how we can best help the Hoiho, yellow-eyed penguins and the sea they live in. They are….

Hamish Howell and Jaedyn Sanders  from Oceanview Heights School in Timaru with:

We need to develop a solution
To fix up the World’s pollution
We all know the key
It’s to clean up the sea
So our hoihos can enjoy evolution

However, the quality of the limericks was so high that two other limericks got special mention.  They are…

Ellie Tverdeich, of New Plymouth Girls’ High School

A hoiho was saying to me
The waves are too full of debris
Those humans on land
Need to all lend a hand
To help clean up our sea

And, Mason Jones of Coastal Taranaki School:

Hemi Hoiho has had enough
Life at sea is getting rough
Why can’t people get the notion
Stop the pilfering of the ocean
Hemi says “Get Tough!”

Highly commended

Here are 25 more really, really great limericks sent in from all over New Zealand.  Sorry, we simply don’t have room for the 2072 others!

Hoiho is my Maori name
Uniqueness is my claim to fame
My habitat is being lost
Declining numbers is the cost
Being endangered is a shame
Alex Moffitt, Coastal Taranaki School

There once was a penguin called Yellow Eyed,
He went to the sea and dived.
He got caught in a net,
That a fisherman set.
He struggled and struggled but died.
Oliver, St Joseph’s Catholic School, Fairfield, Hamilton.

The yellow eyed penguin – Noise Shouter
Is endangered and looking for shelter
They are a dying bird
And not being heard
And currently live on the outer.
Troy, St Joseph’s Catholic School, Fairfield, Hamilton.

There once was couple of Hoiho’s
Who’s egg was a beautiful boyo
But sadly one day
A stoat stowed it away
And that was the end of the Hoiho
Joel Stephens, Mangawhai Beach School

There was a hoiho from the sea,
“Don’t walk your dog here!” said he.
“Get out of my way,
I’m off to the bay,
And don’t drop your trash in my tea!”
Sonia

For the place where penguins swim,
The future truly seems grim.
To stay alive,
And really thrive,
Help must be more than a whim.
Maddi Heal, New Plymouth Girls’ High School

Said a hoiho, the sea is unclean
It’s affecting all things marine
But it’s simple to fix
With just a few tricks
Like recycling and not fishing sardines
Ellie Tverdeich, 10Bh, New Plymouth Girls’ High School

A hoiho was making a din
He was trying to stand up for his kin
They’d been affected
By rubbish neglected
Which should have been put in the bin
Ellie Tverdeich, 10Bh, New Plymouth Girls’ High School

The hoiho need a hand
To keep them on our land
Donate a tree
Or a dollar or three
So the hoiho population expand
Rosie Devaney, Year 10 New Plymouth Girls’ High School

The yellow eyed Penguin could be toast
So we need to clean up our coast.
Pick up your litter, cans, and plastic,
Then the penguins will be ecstatic!
And Room ten will be happy the most.
Faith, Ayla, Sapphire, Anyacair, Memphis, Oshiajn, Kaylee, and Bonnie, Totara Grove School

To save the Penguin with yellow eyes
We must help them before they die
And save them from Danger
By hiring a Ranger
Then their population will rise
Michael Bernhard, Putaruru College

There were once two eggs
That sat between two penguin legs
Along came some ferrets
That all wanted to share it
But couldn’t agree which egg
Alex Hyland

We need to solve hoiho’s fate.
We do not have time to wait.
We need a solution
To stop pollution
So they can survive and mate.
Courtney Welsh-Campbell, Oceanview Heights School

Our Yellow Eyed Penguins, please let them be
Survival depends on a healthy sea
But sadly their life
Is in terrible strife
So please help New Zealand’s Hoiho be free.
Demi, Limehills School

Little Hoiho sat on her eggs at night
Saw a stoat and began screeching in fright
People stop wild cats and predators breeding
Cos’ on Hoiho territory they are feeding
Come on and save our Hoiho from this plight.
Blake, Limehills School

I spotted a Hoiho one day at Curio Bay
He was shouting at rats, stoats and cats “Go away!”
After that day they were all exasperated
So he told us “All pests need exterminated!”
After a hard days work I need some shut eye.
Ella, Limehills School

There was once a Hoiho of the sea
Who tried so hard not to be
Upset and defeated
By the state of the beaches
So he asked for help from you and me.
Danielle Gibson, Waimea College

The Hoiho or yellow-eyed penguin
Requires our immediate attention
There are ways we can strive
To help keep them alive
Here is one that we’d just like to mention:

Raise awareness and money at school
A “Beach” dress up day would be cool
Share what you’ve found out
About the ‘Noise Shouter’
Have a penguin race in the school pool!

Do all of the children and teachers?
Know what to do on our beaches?
They could bring a donation
To hear information
That will help protect these precious creatures
The ‘Question Marks’ and ‘Speech Marks’ reading groups, Duntroon School

Said the hoiho one day to his mate
“Y’know the thing that I really hate
Is the swim of the sharks
And the dog when it barks
It makes me thaink that I’ll have a bad fate.”
Liam Pearce, St Benedict’s School, Wellington

Hoiho liked to swim in the sea
Or chill out under a tree
Then it said with a tear
And face full of fear
I wish the rubbish would not bother me!
Grace Han, Albany Junior High School

There’s some Hoiho that really need you
Their numbers are dropping to few
So protect our southern beaches
Keep the dogs out of reaches
The Hoiho really needs you that’s true
Room 5, Wakefield School

A Yellow-Eyed Penguin one day
Swam into the sea far away
It swam for fish
That was its dish
When it was full it swam back to its bay
Tegan, Room 5 Wakefield School

The Yellow-Eyed Penguin really needs us
We really do need to make a big fuss
Their numbers a low
We don’t want them to go
So let’s try to make their numbers go plus
Sam L, Room 5 Wakefield School

The Hoiho to us is very precious
They love eating fish “mmm delicious”
Let’s look after the sea
We’ll preserve Hoiho you’ll see
Come on and help, be ambitious
Chloe, Room 5 Wakefield School

Te Radar has written us some limericks:

• A limerick must have 5 lines
• A limerick must be entertaining and effective
• A limerick must tell a short story about how we can best help the Hoiho, yellow-eyed penguins, and the sea they live in
• A limerick must have a rhyme scheme of aabba where the first, second, and fifth lines must rhyme with each other and the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other (although differently than lines one, two, and five)
• A limerick has a specific rhythm.  The a-lines should have 5 feet, while the b-lines have only 3 feet.

Said a Hoiho one day to a whale
The ocean is terribly frail
But if kids and their teachers
Helped the ocean and beaches
Life would be a much happier tale.

Said a Hoiho one day to the Sea
‘When I swim I feel happy and free!’
The Ocean replied
‘You’ll be safe on on my tide
If the humans just look after me’

There once was an ocean whose tide
The yellow eyed penguins would ride
They swam and they dived
And they laughed and high-fived
But pollution meant that they all died.

A hoiho one day on the sand
Tripped over an empty tin can
She said with a tear
Its worse than I feared
There’s more litter now than land.

A yellow eyed penguin called Hoiho
Called to his penguin mate, ‘Oi, Bro!
If the humans pollute
We’ll no longer be cute
So we’d better tell them to taihoa’.

Here is a challenge from Judy Hudson of Three Kings School in Auckland:

The kids from Three Kings love the Hoiho
We’ll gladly lend our support, so……
Look after our sea birds and fishes
That’s our hope, that’s also our wishes
Always be our friend, not our foe.

And a thank you from Matson, Limehills School in Southland:

Dear Monika @ Megabright
Thanks for giving us this opportunity to write
Clever limericks to save the Hoiho
We hope they will be of use you know
Cos’ the Yellow Eyed Penguin shines super bright!

Limerick information

A limerick is a funny poem with five lines with a strong rhythmic pattern.

Click here to read some penguin limericks from the OEDILF (The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form).

Classic limericks

There was a young lady from Niger,
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger.
At the end of the ride
The lady was inside,
And the smile was on the face of the tiger.

There was an old man of Peru
Who dreamt he was eating a shoe.
He awoke in the night
With a terrible fright
And found it was perfectly true.

There once was a young man from Kew
Who found a dead mouse in his stew.
Said the waiter, “Don’t shout
Or wave it about,
Or the rest will be wanting one too!”

Seaweek Information

Seaweek is an annual event run by the NZ Association for Environmental Education that allows New Zealanders to come together and, celebrate the sea. It provides a wide range of opportunities for people to learn about our fantastic marine environment and share their experiences of the sea.

Seaweek is about exciting and inspiring all New Zealanders to renew their connection with the sea. It’s not just for children or those involved with formal education – it’s a time for all of us to get to know our ocean, its habits, characteristics and inhabitants