The first field campaign of the Catching Marine Carbon programme (NIWA project END25304) was started with welcomes in both Napier and Wellington. A mihi whakatau and wananga were held at Mana Ahuriri Trust headquarters in Ahuriri Napier on 11th for an international field team from CERC Ocean, Dalhousie University, led by Dariia Atamanchuk. The wananga was well-attended by over 20 mana whenua as well as members of Hawkes Bay Regional Council and ESNZ staff involved in the programme. The following day a karakia and blessing were made by Ahuriri mana whenua for the launch of RV Kimiora from which an autonomous vehicle (a “Blueboat”) and a sensor buoy will be deployed for two weeks of fieldwork in Te Matau-a-Māui Hawke Bay.
Another blessing was made by Ahi Kā (Te Āti Awa o Te Upoko o te Ika) onboard RV Tangaroa, prior to her sailing as part of the programme-affiliated research voyage, Riverine and Groundwater Alkalinity Sources (RaGAS). The fieldwork in Hawke Bay will be conducted over three weeks and will include mapping of alkalinity across Hawke Bay coincident with the nearshore mapping by Kimiora, as well as a glider deployment and recovery, sediment coring, phytoplankton experiments, zooplankton nets and geophysical mapping. [Cliff Law, Joshu Mountjoy, Antonia Cristi, Svenja Halfter, Rachel Hale, Susi Woelz and other staff in the Tangaroa science complement and crew]
