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Latest news

Tsunami evacuation zones home to 1 in 10 New Zealanders

19 August 2020

NIWA scientists have completed the first national assessment of people and buildings at risk in New Zealand’s tsunami evacuation zones.

Researchers on hunt for fish nurseries

Media Release

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.

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.

Our work

Changes in juvenile fish habitats

NIWA is looking for people who have had a long association with the Hauraki Gulf or Marlborough Sounds to help them with a research project on juvenile fish habitats.

Coastal adaptation to climate change

NIWA is developing guidelines and advice to help coastal communities adapt to climate change.

Plastic pollution processes in rivers

Most of the plastic in the ocean originates on land, being carried to the estuaries and coasts by rivers. Managing this plastic on land before it reaches the river could be the key to stemming the tide of marine-bound plastics. The aim of this project is to understand the sources and fate of plastic pollution carried by urban rivers using the Kaiwharawhara Stream as a case study.

Restoration of seagrass beds in Whangarei Harbour

Seagrass beds form an important undersea habitat for small fish, seahorses and shellfish in New Zealand.

Latest videos

Shifting Sands

Dr Joshu Mountjoy discusses NIWA's work in assessing the tsunami hazard just south of Kaikoura.

Find out more about this research.

Antarctic Coastal Marine Life in a Changing Climate

NIWA marine ecologist Dr Vonda Cummings discusses the likely effects of climate change on marine invertebrates living on the seafloor of the Ross Sea coast.

Next Stop Antarctica

Our Far South is an expedition that aims to raise New Zealanders' awareness of the area south of Stewart Island. Gareth Morgan, Te Radar, scientists and 50 everyday Kiwis are onboard to learn and then share their experience. This is the first video produced by them, showing some of the highlights of the trip so far.

Making Waves - Sep 2020

Welcome to the September edition of Making Waves. As always, our commitment is to deliver quality science for the benefit of New Zealand.

Serious games as a tool to engage people

NIWA is using serious games to look at problems holistically, support understanding and give a framework for climate change adaptation decision-making.

Tsunami evacuation zones home to 1 in 10 New Zealanders

Media Release

19 August 2020

NIWA scientists have completed the first national assessment of people and buildings at risk in New Zealand’s tsunami evacuation zones.

Researchers on hunt for fish nurseries

Media Release

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

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.

Concepts in sustainable aquaculture - IMTA

Media Release

23 July 2020

New ways to address environmental sustainability challenges.

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.

COVID-19 modelling

NIWA population modeller Samik Datta is involved in peer reviewing New Zealand's modelling of COVID-19.

Making Waves - June 2020

NIWA is currently working closely with stakeholders to ensure that our research and advice are applied to maximum effect to assist with the recovery after COVID-19.

From land to sea – tracing our trash

NIWA and the Sustainable Coastlines charitable organisation are collaborating to develop ‘source-to-sea’ methods to trace the movement of litter from stormwater systems, through rivers, to coastlines.

Small sea-level rises to drive more intense flooding, say scientists

Media Release

14 April 2020

A little can mean a lot – especially when it comes to the relationship between sea level rise and coastal flooding.

Storm-tide red-alert days 2020

NIWA's 2020 storm-tide red alerts are the highest high tide (also known as king tides) dates that Emergency Managers and Coastal Hazard Managers should write in their diaries and keep an eye on adverse weather (low barometric pressure, onshore winds), river levels and sea conditions (waves and swell).

New reports highlight flood risk under climate change

Media Release

21 August 2019

Two reports released today by NIWA and the Deep South National Science Challenge reveal new information about how many New Zealanders, how many buildings and how much infrastructure could be affected by extreme river and coastal flooding from storms and sea-level rise.

Plastic pollution processes in rivers

Storm-tide red-alert days 2019

NIWA's 2019 storm-tide red alerts are the highest high tide (also known as king tides) dates that Emergency Managers and Coastal Hazard Managers should write in their diaries and keep an eye on adverse weather (low barometric pressure, onshore winds), river levels and sea conditions (waves and swell).

Compound Specific Stable Isotope tracing of sediment sources - tools to manage a sticky problem in New Zealand’s freshwaters and estuaries

Fine sediment is New Zealand’s most widespread water contaminant, degrading ecosystems, infilling dams and reservoirs and impairing recreational, cultural and aesthetic values in our rivers, estuaries and coastal seas.

When the sea gives back – a story of luck and decency

Media Release

15 May 2017

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.

Massive mudslides in Kaikōura Canyon destroy seabed life

Media Release

27 February 2017

Huge mudslides from November’s earthquakes have wiped out all organisms living in the seabed of the Kaikōura Canyon.

Changes in juvenile fish habitats

NIWA is looking for people who have had a long association with the Hauraki Gulf or Marlborough Sounds to help them with a research project on juvenile fish habitats.

Mitchell’s odyssey from stream to ocean

Media Release

14 September 2016

New Zealand continues to punch above its weight in global environmental issues, with three Kiwis seeking a positive change to our oceans in Washington this month.

Te Mahere Kāinga Koiora - Habitat Mapping Module

This Habitat Mapping module will show you how to collect useful information to describe and monitor habitats in estuaries.

From high seas to estuaries

Feature story

15 July 2016

While Tangaroa might be considered its flagship, NIWA’s extensive range of maritime work could not be completed without the support vessels Kaharoa and Ikatere.

NIWA studies spectacular seabed gas flares

1 May 2015

A team of scientists aboard NIWA’s deepwater research vessel Tangaroa returned to Wellington with new knowledge about methane ‘leaking’ into the atmosphere.