On 1 July 2025, NIWA merged with GNS Science to become Earth Sciences New Zealand.

Coasts

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

  • WRIBO’s phoning it in

    Feature story
    A sophisticated buoy has been deployed in Wellington Harbour to “phone home” information about currents, waves and water quality in the harbour.
  • Leopard seal pup’s lungs were failing, CT scan shows

    Media release
    A leopard seal pup born off St Kilda beach, Dunedin, on Tuesday has been found to have only had 10 per cent of normal lung capacity.
  • Kaikōura Canyon shows early signs of ecosystem recovery

    Media release
    NIWA scientists have found signs of recovery in the Kaikōura Canyon seabed, 10 months after powerful submarine landslides triggered by the November earthquake wiped out organisms living in and on the seabed.
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    Spotted a leopard seal? Scientist seeks sightings

    Media release
    A leopard seal has spent so much time in New Zealand waters she has prompted a NIWA scientist to challenge conventional thinking about the species.
  • Breakfast with Ebony - Episode 3

  • Breakfast with Ebony - Episode 1

  • Pilot whale calls detected by acoustic recorder stationed in Cook Strait, New Zealand

    Pilot whale (Globicephala sp.) calls detected by acoustic recorder stationed in Cook Strait, New Zealand from December 2016 to January 2017.
  • Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) in Cook Strait, New Zealand

    Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) calls detected by acoustic recorder stationed in Cook Strait, New Zealand from December 2016 to January 2017.
  • New buoy for Wellington Harbour to boost water quality information

    News article
    A buoy with the ability to “phone home” has been deployed in Wellington Harbour today to monitor currents, waves and water quality in the harbour.
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    Rare octopus turn up at NIWA

    Media release
    NIWA’s Marine Invertebrate Collection has welcomed two extremely rare octopus that have only just been provisionally identified.
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    What ails our estuaries - problems and solutions

    Estuaries are at the bottom of the freshwater drainage network and, effectively, are a part of it. This means that every time we act to protect and enhance streams and rivers we are also benefiting the estuary at the downstream end.
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    Dog Island

    Dog Island levels