Oceans

A NIWA scientist who spent years poring over handwritten scientific notes stored in about 50 large wooden drawers, has seen the fruits of her labour now being used in ways she never imagined.

The new science season at Antarctica is just a few days away from opening and NIWA researchers are busy packing containers and shipping them to the ice where they will be reunited with them in the coming months.

Identifying dolphins using photos of the unique pigment patterns on their fins can be used to help in the management of a species, says a NIWA scientist.

Wellington’s whale may be a sign they are returning to their historical habitat, says NIWA.

NIWA has developed a new method for spatially-explicit, quantitative, sustainability risk assessment of pelagic shark population.

Sharks are vulnerable to overfishing because of their low reproductive rates and often low growth rates. Most pelagic sharks fall near the middle of the shark productivity scale, and there is concern that catching too many of them could lead to population depletion. In New Zealand waters, mako sharks are the second most commonly caught shark species (after blue sharks) on tuna longlines.

Warrick Lyon is heading to the Marshall Islands to teach fisheries observers how to tag sharks.

New Zealand’s contribution to an ambitious international project aiming to generate a definitive map of the entire ocean floor in less than 12 years, is being launched in Wellington tomorrow.

One of the most challenging scientific underwater experiments ever attempted by NIWA is taking place this month on the Chatham Rise.

The R V Tangaroa headed to the Chatham Rise from 9 May to 7 June 2018 to measure and monitor the effects of seabed disturbance on sealife.

Two yet-to-be identified species of beaked whales have been detected in the Cook Strait region. Identifying which species they are is important for understanding the status of marine mammal populations in New Zealand waters.