Oceans

New Zealand is lucky to have its own sea lion. They were nearly driven to extinction more than 150 years ago by the first human settlers and then by commercial sealing—a story shared with nearly all seals.

Anthoptilum grandiflorum (Verrill, 1879) is a species of Pennatulacea, or sea pen, in the octocoral group of Cnidaria. Octocorals are so named because they have 8 tentacles to each of their polyps.

The remarkable long distance swimming abilities of penguins have impressed NIWA scientists who have tracked almost 100 birds over winter in the Southern Ocean.

The main breeding population of New Zealand sea lions at the Auckland Islands has halved in size since the late-1990s; NIWA scientists are working with the government and experts from around New Zealand and overseas to understand why.

The prickly king crab, Paralomis zealandica, is a member of the family Lithodidae, a mainly deepwater crustacean group that is probably better known by many people for its tasty leg meat.

The fishery is managed differently depending on the region and specific environmental protection and fishery management objectives in the region.

Find out about the role of toothfish in the ecosystem and the potential effects of fishing.

The sounds made by whales and dolphins as they pass through New Zealand’s Cook Strait are to be recorded for the first time through a research project being undertaken by a NIWA scientist.

Like other members of the family Asteriidae, Allostichaster is fissiparous.

As we have mentioned many times, new species can be found literally at our door step. But who has found a new species in their pantry?

NIWA researchers have spent part of the last month keeping a close eye on the bottom of Lake Tekapo to find out what it looks like and what is going on below the lake bed.

The main breeding population of NZ sea lions at the Auckland Islands has declined by approximately 50% since the late 1990s.