NIWA

Biodiversity

Latest news

Researchers on hunt for fish nurseries

7 August 2020

NIWA researchers are heading out from Tasman early next week to survey an area thought to be home to important juvenile fish nurseries.

Squat lobster memoir hot off the press

Media Release

6 August 2020

After a decade-long effort, NIWA’s latest Biodiversity Memoir has just rolled off the presses. Written by marine biologist Kareen Schnabel, the 350-page treatise presents everything we currently know about the different kinds of squat lobster living in New Zealand’s waters.

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.

Scientists nurturing only plant of its kind

Media Release

11 June 2020

For more than 20 years NIWA scientists have been nurturing three plants that are the only examples of their kind in existence.

Our work

Mapping our freshwater biodiversity

The ability to properly manage our freshwater resources requires a solid understanding of the flora and fauna which live in and interact with them.

IPBES Nature Futures Workshop

NIWA hosted an IPBES workshop entitled “Visions for nature and nature’s contributions to people for the 21st century” held from 4-8 September 2017 in Auckland.

Plankton biodiversity in the Southern Ocean

NIWA is conducting a five–year study to map changes in the distribution of plankton species in surface waters between New Zealand and the Ross Sea.

Effects of ocean acidification on plankton in New Zealand waters

Our oceans are expected to become more acidic as carbon dioxide concentrations rise. This will likely have impacts on the plankton, which play a major role in ocean ecosystems and processes.

Latest videos

Rotorua Te Arawa lakes

NIWA scientists jump overboard to check out the health the Rotorua Te Arawa lakes. The work is part of NIWA's national LakeSPI programme—an ecological health check for lakes throughout New Zealand.
Underwater research to protect and maintain New Zealand's freshwater resources.

Recording underwater biodiversity after earthquakes

NIWA’s marine ecologist Dr Dave Bowden talks about the catastrophic changes to the seafloor in the Kaikoura Canyon following the November 2016 earthquake.

Exploring the deepsea

Despite many centuries of maritime exploration, only a fraction of our planet's seafloor has been observed. NIWA Deepsea Scientist Di Tracey tells us what it feels like to probe deep beneath the waves to see what's living on the ocean floor.

Taking the pulse of Antarctica’s ocean ecosystem

Niwa scientists have anchored an echosounder to the sea floor of Terra Nova Bay that could reveal the mystery of silverfish reproduction under the Antarctic ice.

Voyage leader's final update

Blog

11 March 2015

Now back on dry land, Voyage Leader Richard O'Driscoll reflects on the final days of RV Tangaroa's 2015 Antarctica expedition.

BLOG: Sir Peter Blake Trust Ambassador Blake Hornblow - Enounters with Antarctica's animals

Blog

26 February 2015

It has been another amazing week here on the Tangaroa. On Saturday we saw Antarctica which was an absolutely breath-taking experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life!

Explaining the blue whale research onboard the Tangaroa

Blog

22 February 2015

Scientists from the Australian Antarctic Division explain the blue whale research they are leading onboard the New Zealand-Australia Antarctic Ecosystems Voyage 2015.

Travelling with the blues

Blog

16 February 2015

NIWA voyage leader Dr Richard O’Driscoll updates the Tangaroa’s encounter with the planet’s largest living beings – the Antarctic blue whales – and discovers what’s on their menu.

Balleny Islands humpback research success

Media Release

9 February 2015

The first objective of the New Zealand- Australia Antarctic Ecosystems Voyage was successfully achieved with the completion of the research at the Balleny Islands.

Specimens Photography

A selection of the best invertebrate specimen photography – here you will find images of Octopus, Crabs, Starfish and more.

Extraordinary Echinoderms

An interactive guide to the sea stars, brittle stars, feather stars, sea eggs, and sea cucumbers (echinoderms) of New Zealand.

‘Supergiant’ amphipods discovered 7 kilometres deep

A recent expedition to one of the deepest places on Earth has discovered one of the most enigmatic creatures in the deep sea: the 'supergiant' amphipod.

Default Aquatic Biodiversity & Biosecurity Gallery

NIWA’s Kaharoa sets sail for the Kermadec Trench, in search of new and strange deep-sea fish

Images accompanying the NIWA media release "NIWA's Kaharoa sets sail for the Kermadec Trench, in search of new and strange deep-sea fish ".

New finds from the deep sea off New Zealand - Jan 2013

Images accompanying the NIWA news release 'New finds from the deep sea off New Zealand'.

A deeper understanding

The sea might seem a distant, even hostile, place. But our coasts and oceans – and the creatures in them – not only grant us wealth, sustenance and pleasure, they keep our planet functioning, finds Aimee Whitcroft.

In brief: New sea pens write themselves into the records

The discovery in Fiordland of two more marine creatures new to science has researchers pondering just how many more unknown species await in its dark, undiveable depths.

Aquatic Science at the interface

19 August 2013 to 23 August 2013

NIWA is sponsoring Aquatic Science at the interface, a joint conference for the:

New Zealand Freshwater Sciences Society

New Zealand Marine Sciences Society

Australian Society for Fish Biology

The conference is being held in Hamilton, for more information see the Aquatic science at the interface website

Fiordland’s depths reveal more new-to-science wonders

2 April 2013

Scientists from NIWA and the Department of Conservation (DOC) have used a remote operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with cameras and a grappling arm to locate and sample specimens of sea pen previously unknown to science, hidden in the undiveable depths of remote Fiordland.

Mapping our freshwater biodiversity

The ability to properly manage our freshwater resources requires a solid understanding of the flora and fauna which live in and interact with them.

New finds from the deep sea off New Zealand

4 February 2013

Scientists have returned from a two-week survey to the north of New Zealand, near the Kermadec Islands, with photos and footage of new-to-science fish.

Summer Series 6: Nippy creatures that share your swim

29 January 2013

There you are at the beach this summer. The water is cool and inviting. You go in for a dip. Then something small nips you.

2013 - Kermadec Trench

17 January 2013

Scientists set sail on NIWA's research vessel Kaharoa this week to film and explore many aspects of life in deep-sea habitats, and capture fish that are new to science, in the Kermadec Trench, northeast of New Zealand.

Mitigation systems

This programme is developing techniques for protecting, enhancing and rehabilitating the biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems and the cultural value they provide.

Divers discover new to science species down in one of the deepest flooded caves in the world

Media Release

25 June 2012

In a recent diving expedition, Australian cave divers found three new-to-science species – a transparent amphipod, a worm, and a small snail - down in one of the world's deepest underwater caves, near Nelson.

13th International Deep-Sea Biology Symposium

3 December 2012 to 7 December 2012

NIWA is the host institute of the 13th International Deep-sea Biology Symposium being held in Wellington from the 3rd to 7th December.

The symposium provides the opportunity for members of the international deep-sea science community to discuss and present their latest research results.

Marine extremes and everything in between

1 July 2012 to 5 July 2012

Marine extremes and everything inbetween is a joint conference between the Australian Marine Sciences Association and the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society (AMSA-NZMSS).

NIWA is sponsorsing prizes for the best student oral and poster presentations at the conference .

For more information about go to the AMSA-NZMSS website

New Zealand: first in the world to catalogue all its species through all of time

18 May 2012

New Zealand is the first country in the world to catalogue its entire known living and fossil life.

NIWA sets sail to study vulnerable deep-sea communities

Media Release

15 April 2012

NIWA's research vessel Tangaroa will set sail this week to explore the biodiversity of deep-sea habitats in the outer Bay of Plenty and southern Kermadec Ridge, starting 80 kilometres off Tauranga.