Data, maps, images, and reports from New Zealand’s single broadest marine survey have been made publically available on the internet. NIWA worked with Wellington-based web company Silverstripe to develop a web portal to enable free access to information gathered during the Bay of Islands Ocean Survey 20/20.
NIWA carried out this comprehensive survey of the region’s seafloor habitats and biodiversity over two phases between 2008 and 2010, with funding from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).
The portal contains a vast storehouse of information about the area’s marine life and supporting ecosystems, including high-resolution seabed maps, and 20 000 images. It was named a finalist at the 2010 New Zealand Open Source Awards in Wellington last month.
“The Bay of Islands coast is under increasing pressure from human activities, both land-based and marine. The huge amount of data NIWA has collected over the last two years, now freely available via the portal, will provide the public and decision makers with a much clearer picture of issues they need to focus on,” said LINZ Policy Manager Richard O’Reilly in a NIWA media release.
The survey, which concluded in June this year, gathered high-quality data about the area’s fish, marine invertebrates, marine algae, bacteria, sediments, water quality and circulation patterns.
"It's not often that such a comprehensive ocean and coastal survey is conducted in New Zealand,” says NIWA project leader Dr Mark Morrison. “The portal holds a lot of very useful information about the region’s marine environment and ecosystems for anyone with an interest in environmental management.”
Contact: Dr Mark Morrison
Read more
Mapping marine biodiversity in Bay of Islands (NIWA)
Bay of Islands Coastal Survey Project (LINZ)
New web portal (media release)
Bay of Islands Ocean Survey 20/20 Project Completed (media release)