Antarctica

Latest news

NIWA heads to Antarctica for critical climate, ocean research

8 January 2021

NIWA’s flagship research vessel Tangaroa leaves soon on a six-week voyage to Antarctica, making it one of the few full scientific expeditions to the continent since the global outbreak of COVID-19.

Nameless nodes get new look from NIWA

Media Release

29 July 2020

At the bottom of the Southern Ocean, near Cape Adare in East Antarctica, lies an undersea ridge which until this month was only known by its co-ordinates: -71.2132 latitude, 172.1649 longitude.

A cold day in the office

Feature story

28 July 2020

Five specialist NIWA divers were left ‘gasping’ during their recent plunge under the ice near Scott Base.

New ocean data from under the world’s biggest ice shelf

Media Release

30 June 2020

New measurements from the ocean under the centre of the Ross Ice Shelf have significantly improved our understanding of the complex processes that drive melting in Antarctica.

Our work

We don’t clearly understand the ecological effects of commerical toothfish fishing in the Ross Sea region. To improve our knowledge, we conducted a survey of demersal (bottom-dwelling) fish species on the Ross Sea slope - particularly grenadiers and icefish - during the 2015 Antarctic Ecosystems Voyage.

Antarctic fisheries research

NIWA’s Antarctic fisheries research is allowing us to investigate possible effects of the longline Antarctic toothfish fishery on the toothfish population and on the local ecosystem.

Climate Present and Past

Climate Present and Past is a core-funded project under NIWA's National Climate Centre. It aims to explore historical climate data and track past changes in climate through a range of approaches.

Southern Ocean seas and atmosphere

The Southern Ocean is under-sampled. Data collected continuously during the Antarctic Ecosystems Voyagehelped fill an important knowledge gap about oceanographic and atmospheric processes in this important region.

Latest videos

Antarctic science onboard NIWA’s RV Tangaroa

Examining biodiversity and ocean dynamics in the world’s largest marine protected area

Researchers are working their way through a wealth of new Antarctic marine data after RV Tangaroa successfully completed its five week scientific voyage to the Ross Sea.

NIWA's Sarah Searson and Jennie Mowatt

If you want to get accurate scientific readings from the icy depths of the Ross Sea, who do you turn to?

2018 - Antarctic Voyage Update #3

2018 - Antarctic Voyage Update #1

TAN 1802 - Antarctic voyage leader Dave Bowden on the phone from the Southern Ocean.

Examining biodiversity and ocean dynamics in the world’s largest marine protected area

Researchers are working their way through a wealth of new Antarctic marine data after RV Tangaroa successfully completed its five week scientific voyage to the Ross Sea.

NIWA's Sarah Searson and Jennie Mowatt

If you want to get accurate scientific readings from the icy depths of the Ross Sea, who do you turn to?

Antarctica in photos

NIWA scientists have worked for many years in Antarctica. These photographs illustrate some of our work in this amazing and scientifically significant place.

Voyage update 5 from Evan Solly, Ice Pilot

Departed all the wonderful coastal scenery and moved east out into the Ross sea polynya

Voyage update 4 from Evan Solly, Ice Pilot

The clear sky and exceptional visibility made our approach to Woods Bay very memorable with Mount Melbourne dead ahead and Mount Murchison on our starboard beam.

Voyage update 3 from Evan Solly, Ice Pilot

Numerous sightings of minke whales today while target identification mid-water trawls were being made on krill and fish layers beneath Tangaroa.

Science update 5 from Richard O’Driscoll

Day 34 of the Ross Sea Life in a Changing Climate (ReLiCC) 2021 voyage on RV Tangaroa. We are back in New Zealand waters and due to arrive in Wellington on the morning of Monday 15 Feb.

Message in a bottle: Glen Walker, bosun

Glen Walker is the bosun aboard NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa currently exploring the waters around Antarctica. His reading list is exclusively sea disaster stories.

Message in a bottle: Sarah Seabrook

It is interesting to watch all of the pieces of our science story come together with each day’s water sampling and our long term experiments.

Science update 4 from Richard O’Driscoll

We are now four weeks into the Ross Sea Life in a Changing Climate (ReLiCC) 2021 voyage on RV Tangaroa and our time in the Ross Sea is rapidly coming to an end.

Message in a bottle: Stuart Mackay, Digital Producer

Antarctica is an incredibly pristine place; we are here to do good science and leave no trace. So, you can imagine my horror as I watched my camera start to float away from the boat.

Message in a bottle: Alexander Hayward, marine biogeochemist

Sitting in the library of the R.V. Tangaroa, I’m contemplating the (almost) three weeks spent at sea. From the nauseating swell of the ferocious fifties to the mornings when I’ve woken to beautiful vistas of Antarctic mountains.

Science update 3 from Richard O’Driscoll

Day 20 and we are now more than halfway through the Ross Sea Life in a Changing Climate (ReLiCC) 2021 voyage on RV Tangaroa.

Voyage update 2 from Evan Solly, Ice Pilot

Tue 19th: At 00:00 this morning we came across an extremely large tabular iceberg. It was easily picked up on the ship’s radar but due to the foggy conditions was only visible at a range of 1.7 miles.

Science update 2 from Richard O’Driscoll

Day 13 of the Ross Sea Life in a Changing Climate (ReLiCC) 2021 voyage on RV Tangaroa finds us close to Cape Adare on the tip of the Antarctic continent. We’ve had a busy and icy week.

NIWA heads to Antarctica for critical climate, ocean research

Media Release

8 January 2021

NIWA’s flagship research vessel Tangaroa leaves soon on a six-week voyage to Antarctica, making it one of the few full scientific expeditions to the continent since the global outbreak of COVID-19.

2021 - Antarctic voyage

RV Tangaroa is undertaking a 45-day voyage to the Southern Ocean and Ross Sea in early January and returning by February 16, 2021.

Nameless nodes get new look from NIWA

Media Release

29 July 2020

At the bottom of the Southern Ocean, near Cape Adare in East Antarctica, lies an undersea ridge which until this month was only known by its co-ordinates: -71.2132 latitude, 172.1649 longitude.

A cold day in the office

Feature story

28 July 2020

Five specialist NIWA divers were left ‘gasping’ during their recent plunge under the ice near Scott Base.

New ocean data from under the world’s biggest ice shelf

Media Release

30 June 2020

New measurements from the ocean under the centre of the Ross Ice Shelf have significantly improved our understanding of the complex processes that drive melting in Antarctica.

Under the Antarctic ice

Feature story

13 January 2020

The rich diversity of marine life near Scott Base in Antarctica has stunned scientists diving under the ice to set up environmental monitoring sites.

Scientists brave winter in Antarctic waters

Media Release

14 November 2019

The New Zealand ship Janas has recently returned from a six-week winter research voyage to the Ross Sea where scientists made the first observations of developing Antarctic toothfish embryos.

Setting new baselines in the southern seas

Feature story

14 June 2019

While most New Zealanders were settling into their summer break, some scientists were double-checking their survival gear before heading to work deep in the Southern Ocean.

Antarctic ‘dumbo’ octopus

NIWA scientists are using octopus beaks recovered from Antarctic toothfish stomachs by scientific observers to obtain new information on the octopus species eaten by toothfish and their distribution in the Ross Sea.

Scientists discover solar heat drives rapid melting of Ross Ice Shelf

Media Release

30 April 2019

Part of the world’s largest ice shelf is melting 10 times faster than the overall average and solar-heated waters beneath the ice shelf are to blame, NIWA research has found.