Coasts

NIWA aims to provide the knowledge needed for the sound environmental management of our marine resources.

  • Shark survival tale

    Feature story
    As part of a Pacific-wide study, NIWA is measuring the survival rate of sharks returned to the sea by commercial tuna fishers.
  • Handwritten files provide sediment treasure chest

    Media release
    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.
  • Southern right whale observed in Wellington Harbour

  • NIWA seaweed scientist tackling global climate change issue

    Media release
    One of the world's leading scientific publishers has named a paper cowritten by a NIWA scientist as one of 250 groundbreaking findings that could "help change the world".
  • Drones watch quake aftermath

    Feature story
    NIWA scientists like Leigh Tait were saddened by the human impact of the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, but he also says that it provided a “massive natural history experiment”.
  • Kaikōura earthquake generated huge submarine sediment shift

    Media release
    The 2016 Kaikōura Earthquake has shown that more than 100 million dumptrucks of mud and sand flow through the Kaikōura Canyon every 140 years, scientists say.
  • IPBES Nature Futures Workshop

    Research Project
    NIWA hosted an IPBES workshop entitled “Visions for nature and nature’s contributions to people for the 21st century” held from 4-8 September 2017 in Auckland.
  • Look out for leopard seals

    Media release
    Beachgoers are being asked to look out for leopard seals over summer and report sightings as soon as possible.
  • Summer Series 2017 - Look out for these marine pests

    Feature story
    Every year NIWA carries out numerous marine surveillance missions, surveys at ports and harbours around the country. Their divers are looking for the pests that have hitched a ride to New Zealand waters and are capable of destroying our unique ecosystems and shellfish industry.
  • The New Zealand Estuary Trophic Index

    Research Project
    Excessive nutrient input (eutrophication) threatens many New Zealand estuaries causing ecological problems, such as algal blooms and poor physical and chemical conditions for estuarine life.
  • Wire deployed corer floats being retrieved

    Wire deployed corer floats being retrieved on board the RV Tangaroa. The corer sampled sediments at 9994 metre depths in the Kermadec Trench.