Oceans

NIWA has transformed 1.5 million square kilometres of data into the most accurate and detailed map yet of the land underneath the sea around New Zealand.

New Zealand’s coast is sculpted by ocean waves. Some wave conditions bring joy to surfers and beachgoers, but, at other times, waves can cause major hazards at sea or along the shore.

Hull-mounted on the RV Tangaroa, the EM302 multibeam echosounder maps the seafloor using a fan of 288 acoustic beams, producing up to 864 soundings per ping in dual swath mode, providing 100% coverage of the seabed.

About snapper eggs

One of the major consequences of climate change is rising global sea levels.

Ocean acidification is the name given to the lowering of pH of the oceans as a result of increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.

An unavoidable delay in a research ship’s voyage to Antarctica resulted in some surprising and important findings about the behaviour of emperor penguins.

The world’s oceans are acidifying as a result of the carbon dioxide (CO2) generated by humanity.

Technical information about our datasets and methodology along with related resources.

Where and when do white sharks occur in New Zealand waters, and how can fisheries bycatch be reduced?

An interactive guide to the intertidal sponges of New Zealand.

NIWA puts a lot of things in the ocean—instruments tied to moorings, floats that dive up and down measuring what’s going on in the water, and video cameras that monitor fish.