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Tangaroa voyage blog: Surveying the Louisville Seamount Chain

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.

The research is part of a science programme that is investigating the relationship between deep-sea trawling and the diversity of animals that live on the seafloor. 

Homeward bound

The Louisville Seamount Chain VME Voyage is now completed and we are on the long steam home, made challenging due to the weather. What happened to those sunny calm days we experienced on most of the voyage?

NIWA scientists at sea

NIWA staff involved with the Louisville Seamount Chain voyage have wide ranging skills and expertise.

Measuring seawater chemistry on the Louisville Ridge

Ocean chemistry is changing rapidly due to the influx of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, largely from human activities including the combustion of fossil fuels.

International collaborators

On this voyage there are scientists from the United States and Australia working alongside New Zealand scientists from NIWA and Victoria University.

Seafloor life on the Louisville seamounts

The NIWA Deep Towed Imaging System (DTIS) enables us to capture video and still images of sea life on the ocean floor.

Sampling seamounts

In this post we look at the tools we are using to undertake our survey of the seamounts on our voyage to the Louisville Seamount Chain.

Mountains in the Sea: the Louisville Seamount Chain

We are currently steaming out towards our survey area, the Louisville Seamount Chain, which is about 1500 km from Wellington.

New seamount research to improve fisheries management

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.