As New Zealanders search for the summer sun, 38 researchers and crew will board RV Tangaroa tomorrow for a six-week science voyage deep into the waters of Antarctica.
NIWA scientists are doing what no others have done before. In a mysterious world just below the Antarctic ice, a delicate web of ice crystals forms a habitat that’s unique and largely unknown. Until now…
A NIWA-led collaboration is seeing atmospheric measurements taken from Antarctica’s Ross Island added to a highly respected international climate data reference network.
Plankton are the base of the oceans food web and are vital to our survival. But as our world changes will they be able to continue to play this essential role? Join us as we follow a group of NIWA scientists investigating various aspects of this question in the ocean around Antarctica.
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. Voyage leader and principal fisheries scientist Dr Richard O’Driscoll outlines the team’s busy research schedule examining biodiversity and ocean dynamics in the world’s largest marine protected area.
Fisheries scientist Dr Pablo Escobar-Flores delves into Antarctic mesopelagic science with a look at the small animals and organisms that help power the amazing diversity of life in the Ross Sea.
Whale researchers such as NIWA Marine Mammal Acoustician Dr Giacomo Giorli are eagerly awaiting the return of RV Tangaroa after its five-week Antarctic voyage.
The moorings team is bringing back precious data from long-term underwater listening devices which the researchers are using to search for signs that sperm whales are finally returning in numbers to the Ross Sea.
Sperm whales were targeted by the whaling industry in the 19th and 20th centuries and more than 70 per cent of their population wiped out. Scientists are now trying to establish if the sperm whale population is making a comeback.
NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa sets off for a six-week voyage to Antarctica in February. Six of those aboard explain what they’re doing, what they’re worried about and the one thing they wouldn’t be without.
RV Tangaroa is undertaking a six-week voyage to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean between 5 February and 21 March 2018 with scientists from NIWA and the University of Auckland.
A dramatic change in sea ice this year is likely to hamper a NIWA-led research project aiming to better understand how ice shelves will melt as the ocean warms.
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 oceans are an important sink for atmospheric CO2, but as they take up increasing amounts of CO2 they are becoming more acidic.
This has knock-on effects on some marine organisms and on the ocean's ability to sequester carbon. NIWA oceanographer Dr Cliff Law explains the impacts of ocean acidification on organisms that use carbonates to build their shells, and on bacteria. Effects on bacteria may reduce the ocean's ability to take up atmospheric CO2, creating a positive feedback loop, whereas organisms that use carbonate may find it more difficult to form and maintain their shells. (07:00)
The Southern Ocean and Antarctica have high levels of primary productivity for three months of the year, based on the growth of phytoplankton. These microscopic plants are highly adapted to this unique environment and survive despite the lack of iron – a key nutrient – in these waters.
CFCs have damaged the ozone layer and led to higher UV levels and increased health risks. Our role is to understand the causes and effects of ozone depletion, to inform the public of the risk.
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.
