Coasts and Estuaries news

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

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NIWA’s Marine Invertebrate Collection has welcomed two extremely rare octopus that have only just been provisionally identified.

When you leave the beach this summer, the memory of a great holiday can be savoured with a sea shell. Lift it up to your ear, and you hear the roar of the sea once more.

The findings of the most complex underwater coastal survey of the seafloor undertaken in New Zealand, including previously undiscovered natural features and sunken boats, are to be formally presented to the Marlborough community tomorrow.

They fly like birds under water and create strange pits in the sand. Eagle rays can be seen around New Zealand's coast in the summer months, when they come in to breed. Like their larger cousins, the longtail and shorttail stingrays, they have a sting in their tail.

The shark with the hammer-shaped head (Sphyrna zygaena) is a big eater and is potentially dangerous to humans. It has been found in New Zealand coastal waters, in up to 110 metres of water, and on the continental shelf. It is more commonly seen around the North Island.

Highly detailed maps of New Zealand’s seabed are now freely available on NIWA’s website.

NIWA has transformed 1.5 million square kilometres of data into the most accurate and detailed map yet of the land underneath the sea around New Zealand.
Scientists have discovered an extensive body of freshwater off the Canterbury coast between Timaru and Ashburton.

If you’re surfing the North Island beaches this summer don’t be surprised if the sleek bronze body next to you riding the waves is that of a bronze whaler shark.

Dr Helen Bostock and Emmanuelle Sultan - reposted from Sciblogs

Date: 20/2/2013
Location: 65.114305°S, 142.304997°E
Weather: Cloudy and calm
Sea state: Calm

One of the primary aims of this voyage has been to monitor the formation of High Salinity Shelf Water at the Wilkes/Adelie Land shelf and its end product, the Antarctic bottom water.

Ever wondered what that brownish foam is that you sometimes see clinging to sandy beaches? It's easy to think the foam is a sign of pollution, but in fact it's a natural phenomenon associated with certain kinds of beaches, and the tiny organisms that live there.

It's an epic journey for a small bird. A team of scientists from New Zealand, the US, and France has discovered that sooty shearwaters (known to Kiwis as muttonbirds or titi) make a 64 000 km round trip each year, chasing summer across the Pacific.

Snapper are New Zealand’s most prized fish; they are the fish fishermen love-to-love. They live in a wide range of habitats in New Zealand’s warmer coastal waters, around the North Island and the top of the South, and prefer depths of 5–60 metres. They grow to a decent size: up to 105 cm in length.

There you are at the beach this summer. The water is cool and inviting. You go in for a dip. Then something small nips you.

Over the long hot summer many kiwis will be digging deep in the sand for pipi. These yummy shellfish live buried in the sand and are free at the beach! 

Targeted geological sampling and imaging by NIWA scientists next week will help understand active seabed processes in one of New Zealand's largest seafloor features.

Washed up like a jellyfish on the sand this summer? New Zealand has the moon jelly, spotted jellyfish, and lion's mane, and all three jellyfish are prevalent in our coastal waters all around the country, and the ocean, at this time of year. Jellyfish have weak powers of direction, they drift into bays, and tides and currents wash them up.

The broadnose sevengill shark, Notorynchus cepedianus, is named descriptively after – wait for it– its broad snout and seven gill slits! Interestingly, most shark species only have five gills. The broadnose sevengill is one of New Zealand's more common inshore sharks.

NIWA's new Undersea New Zealand map provides a unique insight into the shape of the seafloor in one of the world's most extensive marine jurisdictions.

NIWA scientists have made the rare discovery of a days-old ghost shark during a recent survey off the east coast of the South Island.

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