Coasts

NIWA's research vessel Tangaroa left Wellington on 4 February to survey the seafloor environment of the Louisville Seamount Chain, which are large undersea mountains east of New Zealand.

A series of on-board blog posts written by the NIWA scientists aboard the RV Tangaroa as it surveys the Louisville Seamount Chain, large undersea mountains east of New Zealand.

Sightings of the whales, the world's largest animal, are rare and they remain one of the planet's most elusive creatures. They were intensively hunted during the whaling era in the Southern Hemisphere, dramatically reducing their numbers.

People fishing in the Bay of Islands are being asked to keep a look out for a young hammerhead shark, nicknamed Orokawa.