Oceans

NIWA aims to provide the knowledge needed for the sound environmental management of our marine resources.

  • Leopard seal pup’s lungs were failing, CT scan shows

    Media release
    A leopard seal pup born off St Kilda beach, Dunedin, on Tuesday has been found to have only had 10 per cent of normal lung capacity.
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    Spotted a leopard seal? Scientist seeks sightings

    Media release
    A leopard seal has spent so much time in New Zealand waters she has prompted a NIWA scientist to challenge conventional thinking about the species.
  • Breakfast with Ebony - Episode 3

  • Acoustic Monitoring of whales and dolphins in New Zealand’s Cook Strait region

    Research Project
    The sounds of whales and dolphins rarely seen in New Zealand waters have been recorded in a pioneering underwater sound project.
  • Breakfast with Ebony - Episode 1

  • Acoustic monitoring of the critically endangered Māui dolphin

    Research Project
    Māui dolphins, a subspecies of Hector’s dolphins, are listed as nationally critical in New Zealand with a population estimate between 57 and 75 dolphins over one year old.
  • Pilot whale calls detected by acoustic recorder stationed in Cook Strait, New Zealand

    Pilot whale (Globicephala sp.) calls detected by acoustic recorder stationed in Cook Strait, New Zealand from December 2016 to January 2017.
  • Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) in Cook Strait, New Zealand

    Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) calls detected by acoustic recorder stationed in Cook Strait, New Zealand from December 2016 to January 2017.
  • Biological traits, a new tool for estimating ecosystem health and vulnerability

    Research Project
    Biological traits analysis is a valuable tool for measuring ecosystem function.
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    Rare octopus turn up at NIWA

    Media release
    NIWA’s Marine Invertebrate Collection has welcomed two extremely rare octopus that have only just been provisionally identified.
  • New Zealand joins global seabed mapping initiative

    News article
    New Zealand joins global seabed mapping initiative
  • Scientists eavesdrop on endangered dolphins

    News article
    The critically endangered Māui dolphin is getting a helping hand from scientists this month who are beginning a year-long research project to listen in on them.