NIWA

Oceans

Recording old oceans centre tag.

Latest news

New ocean species discovered in Bounty Trough

12 March 2024

Scientists on an expedition to the underexplored Bounty Trough off New Zealand have discovered around 100 new and potentially new ocean species.

Expedition to uncover secrets of New Zealand's unexplored Bounty Trough

Media Release

8 February 2024

An expedition to discover new species in one of the most remote parts of the deep ocean is departing from Wellington today.

NIWA unravelling impacts on marine life after Cyclone Gabrielle

Media Release

3 October 2023

NIWA are studying the ocean off Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay to see how Cyclone Gabrielle has impacted the health of fisheries habitats and seabed ecosystems.

Tonga eruption caused fastest ever underwater flow

Media Release

7 September 2023

The 2022 Tonga volcanic eruption triggered the fastest underwater flow ever recorded.

Our work

Ocean Census – Bounty Trough research voyage

Led by Ocean Census, NIWA and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, a team of scientists are spending 21 days investigating the unexplored Bounty Trough ocean system off the coast of New Zealand’s South Island.

Latest videos

Tonga eruption and tsunami shock the world

Tsunamis and shockwaves hit continents on the other side of the Pacific. The Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai (HT-HH) volcano was like a massive shotgun blast from the deep, generating the biggest atmospheric explosion recorded on Earth in more than 100 years. Funded by The Nippon Foundation, NIWA and SEA-KIT surveyed over 22,000km2 surrounding the volcano, including mapping 14,000km2 of previously unmapped seafloor as part of The Nippon Foundation GEBCO Seabed 2030 project. Find out more: https://niwa.co.nz/news/tonga-eruption-confirmed-as-largest-ever-recorded

Plankton in the Ross Sea

Plankton are the base of the oceans food web and are vital to our survival. But as our world changes will they be able to continue to play this essential role? Join us as we follow a group of NIWA scientists investigating various aspects of this question in the ocean around Antarctica.

Antarctic science onboard NIWA’s RV Tangaroa

Examining biodiversity and ocean dynamics in the world’s largest marine protected area

Researchers are working their way through a wealth of new Antarctic marine data after RV Tangaroa successfully completed its five week scientific voyage to the Ross Sea. Voyage leader and principal fisheries scientist Dr Richard O’Driscoll outlines the team’s busy research schedule examining biodiversity and ocean dynamics in the world’s largest marine protected area.

Check out more stories from the 2021 Antarctic voyage

The instruments at work - In the volcano's wake

Our team onboard RV Tangaroa are equipped with all the tech and tools they need to explore the undersea changes caused by the devastating volcanic eruption in Tonga earlier this year. They’ve been using a range of nifty scientific instruments to sample all matters of the ocean from the seafloor through to the water column. The line-up includes the: - DTIS (deep-towed imaging system) - Multicorer - CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth) - Glider Find out what each of them do in our video. The NIWA-Nippon Foundation Tonga Eruption Seabed Mapping Project (TESMaP) is funded by The Nippon Foundation and also supported by The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed2030 Project which aims to map the world’s ocean floor by 2030. Learn more on our website: https://niwa.co.nz/our-science/voyages/2022-tonga-post-eruption

This week's Critter is the sand-dollar associate Oxydromus sp., a hesionid polychaete.

Hesionids are lively compact small worms, often richly coloured and with a good set of eyes (2 pairs, with lenses).

Critter of the Week - precious coral Corallium

We recently featured another precious red coral , as our ‘Valentines Critter’ back in February (see Hemicorallium - CotW 109). This week, let us celebrate the closely related genus Corallium in honour of our visiting scientist Tzu Hsuan Tu from the National Taiwan University in Taipei.

Ocean acidification - What does it mean for Shellfish?

This video has been produced to highlight ocean acidification as a potential issue affecting the NZ shellfish aquaculture industry. The video is a direct result of the collaborative New Zealand-United States workshop 'Future proofing New Zealand’s shellfish aquaculture: monitoring and adaptation to ocean acidification', organised by NIWA, MPI, Cawthron Institute and US colleagues in December 2013. Featured in the video are scientists, US and NZ industry representatives, as well as officials from the funding agencies MPI, MBIE and the US Embassy.

Organising Team:
Anna Crosbie (MPI), Norman Ragg (Cawthron), Vonda Cummings and Di Tracey (NIWA), Todd Capson (US Sustainable Fisheries organisation). Video produced by Dave Allen (NIWA)

More information on ocean acidification can be found on our website here:

Ocean acidification.

Our Far South

A number of people aboard the Our Far South voyage have been sending us beautiful photos of their experience. In this gallery, we showcase some of our favourites. Oldest photos are shown first. Unless otherwise stated, all photos are credited to Our Far South.