Summer series week 6: Creatures reveal true colours up close

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From a tiny caddsifly to a frolicking dusky dolphin, NIWA staff have captured some beautiful images of insects, birds, fish—and a particularly handsome frog.

These up close and personal images have required enormous patience, great skills and a little bit of luck to pull off. They have all been taken by NIWA scientists and staff in the course of their work throughout the year.

UNDERWATER ANGEL: A rare shot of a juvenile flying fish. [Photo: Crispin Middleton]

Specialist diver Crispin Middleton got his flying fish while diving near the Poor Knights Island Marine Reserve. It’s a rare shot that involved some quick thinking, The fish usually dart away but Crispin noticed when he hovered above them, they paused just long enough for him to capture them on camera. He is also responsible for the shot of the Green and Golden Bell frog relaxing on the water’s surface in Northland.

A Green and Golden Bell Frog, Litoria aurea relaxes on the waters surface in Northland. [Photo by Crispin Middleton, NIWA]

Dusky dolphin playing alongside the Tangaroa during the Tan1605 Cook Strait Acoustic Monitoring Voyage [Photo: Fiona Elliot, NIWA]

Marine physics technician Fiona Elliott took her shot of a Dusky dolphin from NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa as it played in the waves alongside the ship.

The common stony-cased caddisfly Pycnocentrodes aureolus shows off its bling. [Photo Brian Smith, NIWA]

And freshwater biologist Brian Smith turned a common stony-cased caddisfly into something he dubbed Jewel of the Waikato.

Several of these used on NIWA’s sought-after 2017 calendar which showcases the broad range of NIWA’s work and the exceptional quality of its images.