Coasts & Oceans
New Thinking
Census time for fish and habitats around New Zealand’s continental shelf
NIWA’s latest voyage of discovery will examine the expansive continental shelf around New Zealand looking for our biodiversity hotspots.
NZ scientists start Tsunami project in Samoa
Scientists from New Zealand have started a year-long project to develop tsunami evacuation maps for Samoa. The project is funded by the New Zealand Aid Programme and is being undertaken by tsunami and social science specialists at GNS Science.
Sharks in more danger than swimmers
Some sharks lurking around New Zealand waters this summer are in more danger than the swimmers they scare, NIWA says.
Scientists study sharks for the lemon in fish and chips
NIWA scientists have been catching juvenile rig sharks in the past two weeks in preparation for a nationwide survey.
A deeper connection – sonar gets smarter
Electronic Navigation Ltd (ENL) and Industrial Research Ltd (IRL) have signed a long-term co-funding agreement that promises to underpin next-generation innovation at New Zealand’s premier marine electronics company and strengthen the country’s advanced sonar systems capability.
Volcano collapse underlines threat of tsunami
NIWA scientists have found that a volcanic cone on Rumble III, 200km northeast of Auckland, has crumbled. Marine geologist Richard Wysoczanski said there's no doubt some of these slips can cause tsunami.
Scientists investigate ocean floor minerals
NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa will set sail next week to explore the minerals potential of deep-sea volcanoes of the Kermadec Arc, 200 km north-east of Auckland.
NZ’s deep-sea research boosted by new partnership
Two New Zealand research organisations will work closely with one of the world’s leading ocean research and engineering organisations to accelerate research and exploration in a wide range of oceanographic topics in the southwest Pacific region.
Science Of Sand
For many of us, summer isn’t summer without getting some sand between our toes. But did you ever wonder what that sand is made of, and how it got there? Dr Terry Hume of NIWA, is the man to ask.
Scientists set sail to study live whales
NIWA is providing its ship Tangaroa to take 18 scientists from New Zealand and Australia to the Southern Ocean next month to conduct research on the live whale population.
New Science
Scientists Find Mysterious Giant Pockmarks on Chatham Rise
Pockmarks are crater-like structures on the seabed caused by fluids and gases erupting through sediments into the ocean
New Zealand surrounded by biggest waves on the planet
New Zealand is bang in the middle of the biggest and wildest waters on the planet: the Southern Ocean.
Cook Strait Canyon starts to spill its secrets
Preliminary results from the first comprehensive survey of the Cook Strait Canyon seabed, performed by NIWA and GNS Scientists, have begun to reveal tantalising scientific secrets about New Zealand's largest underwater canyon.
Scientists investigate gas hydrate deposits off East Coast
Scientists from GNS Science and Germany will spend the next six weeks on the German research ship, Sonne, investigating gas hydrate deposits off the east coast of the North Island.
NIWA takes high-tech look below Antarctic ice shelves
NIWA's new Ice Tethered Profiler (ITP) places NIWA at the forefront of polar oceanography.
Tsunami response to be put to test
Using modelling techniques developed by GNS Science, New Zealand's ability to respond to a massive tsunami will be put to the test on Wednesday, 20th October.
Ocean dwellers miss the census
New Zealand seas are teeming with unidentified creatures which may have properties ranging from combating pollution to fighting cancer, say NIWA scientists involved in a project to catalogue marine life.
Rare seafloor chimney cut up for science
GNS Scientists have sliced up a rare 2.5m-tall seafloor chimney to find out its age and the concentrations of the metallic minerals it contains. It is thought to be one of the largest chimneys recovered from the seafloor.
Creatures from the deep
New Zealand could have up to 50,000 marine species waiting to be discovered, say scientists who have spent 10 years exploring the marine life in our waters.
Carnivorous NZ sponge among top 10 new species
A New Zealand sponge has been selected for the prestigious international Top 10 species of the year. Each year, an international Top 10 New Species selection committee selects the 10 most notable new species described from around the world.
New Value
NIWA survey work helps assess Kaikoura tsunami risks
Surveying work carried out by NIWA scientists this week is helping provide new insights into the tsunami risk from undersea landslides in the Kaikoura Canyon.
Fiordland’s depths reveal more new-to-science wonders
Scientists have used a remote operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with cameras and a grappling arm to locate and sample specimens of sea pen previously unknown to science, hidden in the undiveable depths of remote Fiordland.
It’s good news about the oyster industry
The oyster season runs until the end of August this year and so far the news is all good for oyster fishers and oyster lovers.
NIWA creates designer homes for fish
Ultrasound device gets to bottom of the ocean
Upgraded research vessel a huge advancement
NIWA today welcomed home RVTangaroa, New Zealand’s only deepwater research vessel, after a $20 million dollar upgrade to enhance its ocean science and survey capabilities.
International forum strengthens commercial prospects for NZ marine lipids
International experts gathered in Wellington recently as part of a new collaboration between Industrial Research Limited (IRL) and world-leading Japanese researchers to enable a path to market for high-value New Zealand ingredients for functional foods.
Download the seabed!
Highly detailed maps of New Zealand’s seabed are now freely available on NIWA’s website. The high-resolution maps show the hidden seabed of the deep sea around the country in incredible digital detail, making them a treasure for all New Zealanders.
King of the Crabs
A major study of the king crabs from the New Zealand, Australian, and Ross Sea regions has just been completed, finding a total of 23 species and almost doubling the number of previously known species from the area. Dr Ahyong has described five exclusively from New Zealand, five from Australia, and four common to both regions.
Even the paint is from New Zealand
When the NIWA research vessel Tangaroa goes to a Singaporean shipyard in July, it will carry all its own hull paint from New Zealand.
