Coasts and Estuaries news

News and media releases related to the our coasts and estuaries-related work.

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The decorator crabs, or camouflaged crabs, are very different creatures from the paddle crab. They’re slow movers that rely on disguise to evade predators, decorating their shells with whatever flotsam and jetsam comes to claw.

Harnessing tidal power for electricity generation will be a landmark in broadening New Zealand’s already impressive renewable energy portfolio, a marine energy conference is to be told.

“In the drive to replace non-renewable fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, marine energy is emerging as a viable option in the near-future and a real complement to wind, geothermal and hydro resources,” says NIWA oceanographer, Dr Craig Stevens.

A New Zealand great white shark has set a world record for the deepest ever known dive of 1200 metres.

A carnivorous sponge with ‘lip-shaped’ spicules has been identified from the dark depths of the ocean.

NIWA scientists are in the pink! They’re studying the deep candy pink or purple coralline algae, abundant around the New Zealand shoreline and throughout the world, which play a vital role in marine ecosystems.

The results from 19 sea-level gauges around New Zealand reveal that six locations had peak wave heights of over one metre generated by a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Chile on 27 February.

NIWA and the Bluff Oyster Management Company have just completed a pre-season survey of the oyster beds in Foveaux Strait.

The joint Australia-New Zealand Antarctic Whale Expedition is underway on-board NIWA's research vessel Tangaroa. The Australian Antarctic Division have released this progress report.

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.

NIWA’s 28-metre research vessel Kaharoa will spend Christmas at sea. Kaharoa will be in the midst of the Indian Ocean, on an epic journey deploying over 100 ocean-profiling ‘Argo’ floats.

Researchers at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) have contributed their findings to a major news release by the Census of Marine Life charting an astonishing abundance, diversity, and distribution of deep-sea species.

Australian Antarctic Division seal biologists were the first to photograph several large icebergs off the coasts of Macquarie Island. Since the beginning of November these icebergs have been pushed north by winds and ocean currents to be within 250 km of New Zealand.

Scientists from the UK, Japan and New Zealand have successfully photographed the deepest fish in the southern hemisphere at 7561 metres deep in the Kermadec Trench, just northeast of New Zealand.

Scientists at NIWA have identified the source of the giant plankton bloom featuring in spectacular NASA satellite images.

NZ scientists endured the dark polar winter to find what drives the dramatic growth of sea ice

Three new posters of the Cook Strait and Wellington Harbour seabed reveal for the first time a treasure trove of detailed information for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

14 September 2009 - Port of New Orleans CEO, Gary La Grange, is in Wellington to talk about the lessons New Orleans learnt from its recovery from Hurricane Katrina and how these experiences can help protect coastal and port areas worldwide. Mr La Grange is one of the keynote speakers at the Australasian Coasts and Ports Conference at Te Papa Tongarewa, from 16-18 September 2009.

NIWA and IBM today announced a multi-million dollar partnership where NIWA will purchase one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers for use in environmental forecasting.

Inshore and onshore biodiversity sampling activity is about to commence in the Bay of Islands as the Bay of Islands Ocean Survey 20/20 project enters its next phase.

Census of Marine Life-affiliated scientists, plumbing the secrets of a vast underwater mountain range south of New Zealand, captured the first images of a novel “Brittlestar City” that colonized against daunting odds the peak of a seamount – an underwater summit taller than the world’s tallest building.

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