News

NIWA voyage leader Dr Richard O’Driscoll updates the Tangaroa’s encounter with the planet’s largest living beings – the Antarctic blue whales – and discovers what’s on their menu.

NIWA marine geologist Dr Geoffroy Lamarche was made a Knight of the National Order of Merit by French Ambassador H.E. M. Laurent Contini, at a special ceremony at the Embassy of France in Wellington on 13 February.

Weekly update to help media assess likelihood of extremely dry weather preceding a drought. Regions experiencing severely to extremely drier than normal soils conditions are deemed “hotspots”.

We have now said goodbye to the towering cliffs and vast glaciers of the Balleny Islands and have been heading southeast tracking blue whales by following their low frequency calls. Yesterday we broke into the polynya that is the Ross Sea. The fantastic weather is following us - making it easy to appreciate this surreal part of the world.

Weekly update to help media assess likelihood of extremely dry weather preceding a drought. Regions experiencing severely to extremely drier than normal soils conditions are deemed “hotspots”.

The first objective of the New Zealand- Australia Antarctic Ecosystems Voyage was successfully achieved with the completion of the research at the Balleny Islands.

It’s now day 8 at sea and day 3 at the Balleny Islands. The Balleny Islands are a group of volcanic Antarctic Islands situated at 67 degrees south. They are mostly barren rock, with steep cliff faces and covered by massive glaciers, but they are also home to some incredible marine wildlife!

On day five at 9:07 am we all held our breath as we passed 60 degrees south.

Scientists and crew on board Tangaroa are getting their first taste of the deep South’s breath-taking environment as the vessel crosses the 60th parallel, the northern limit of the Southern Ocean.

An international team of oceanographers, including NIWA’s Dr Philip Sutton, has analysed data from ocean-profiling instruments known as Argo floats and found the temperature of the world’s oceans increased steadily between 2006 and 2013.

Voyage leader Richard O'Driscoll reports on voyage progress so far as RV Tangaroa enters the CCAMLR zone.

It’s day three at sea and things are all humming along nicely. We’ve just passed 50 degrees south and any faint sighting of the mainland is long gone. The next time we will see land will probably be the Balleny Islands in a couple of days.