NIWA

Oceanography

Latest news

Tangaroa heads back to sea – with social distancing

13 May 2020

NIWA’s flagship research vessel Tangaroa will sail out of Wellington Harbour on Sunday for the first scientific voyage since the lockdown.

Ambitious NIWA-led Antarctic Ocean project gets go-ahead

Media Release

18 June 2019

Understanding how the Antarctic oceans work is vital to predicting the world’s future climate and the implications of climate change for humankind and the planet.

Busy season for NIWA scientists in Antarctica

Media Release

24 September 2018

The new science season at Antarctica is just a few days away from opening and NIWA researchers are busy packing containers and shipping them to the ice where they will be reunited with them in the coming months.

NZ scientists launch their part in bold project to map seafloor

Media Release

20 June 2018

New Zealand’s contribution to an ambitious international project aiming to generate a definitive map of the entire ocean floor in less than 12 years, is being launched in Wellington tomorrow.

Our work

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

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.

Shifting Sands

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

Find out more about this research.

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.

Tangaroa heads back to sea – with social distancing

Media Release

13 May 2020

NIWA’s flagship research vessel Tangaroa will sail out of Wellington Harbour on Sunday for the first scientific voyage since the lockdown.

Stitching together a new view of the seafloor

Combining multibeam bathymetry, specialist GIS software and high-resolution camera footage, NIWA has produced startlingly vivid three-dimensional photo-mosaics of undersea habitats.

Ambitious NIWA-led Antarctic Ocean project gets go-ahead

Media Release

18 June 2019

Understanding how the Antarctic oceans work is vital to predicting the world’s future climate and the implications of climate change for humankind and the planet.

Major review of New Zealand shelf-seas oceanography published

The first major review in three decades of physical oceanography in New Zealand shelf-seas (waters under 200 m depth) has just been published in The Royal Society Te Apārangi New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research.

Voyage update: Cape Adare

17 January 2019. By Voyage Leader Dr Richard O'Driscoll.

Ross Sea Region Research and Monitoring Programme

The Ross Sea Region Research and Monitoring Programme (Ross-RAMP) is a five-year research programme funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and run by NIWA to evaluate the effectiveness of the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area.

Ross Sea Environment and Ecosystem Voyage 2019

From 8 Jan - 27 Feb 2019 RV Tangaroa is undertaking a six-week research voyage to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. On board scientists, supported by 19 crew members, will be studying ocean, atmosphere and ecosystem processes with the focus on establishing monitoring programmes for the newly created Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area (MPA).

Busy season for NIWA scientists in Antarctica

Media Release

24 September 2018

NZ scientists launch their part in bold project to map seafloor

Media Release

20 June 2018

New Zealand’s contribution to an ambitious international project aiming to generate a definitive map of the entire ocean floor in less than 12 years, is being launched in Wellington tomorrow.

Tide envelopes 2017

The range for high and low tides throughout the 2017 year (in alphabetical order).

Exploring the deepsea

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.

Voyage reports and data

A list of current voyage reports in downloadable formats.

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.

RV Polaris - Ocean Acidification

For the last 14 years, in collaboration with the University of Otago's Chemistry Department, Dr Kim Currie has run a time series tracking ocean acidification.

Geosciences 2013

24 November 2013 to 27 November 2013

NIWA is sponsoring Geosciences 2013.

Shifting Sands

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

Find out more about this research.

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

AWATEA - Aotearoa Wave and Tidal Energy conference

18 April 2013 to 19 April 2013

NIWA is sponsoring AWATEA's 2013 conference 'Blue energy in the pacific: Powering Innovation'.

For more information see the AWATEA website

NIWA’s Tangaroa sets sail to study how Antarctica affects ocean currents

30 January 2013

A team of 22 Australian, New Zealand and French scientists will depart Wellington next week, onboard NIWA's RV Tangaroa, for a 42-day voyage to the Mertz Polynya region of Antarctica.

Ocean modelling

NIWA answers a wide range of scientific questions using ocean modelling. These models can be linked to well established weather forecasting models to predict ocean temperature, sea level and the dispersal of pollution.

Geosciences 2012

25 November 2012 to 28 November 2012

NIWA is sponsoring the Geosciences Society annual conference being held in Hamilton on the 25th to 28th November.

The conference will showcase the broad range of geological and geophysical research that is being undertaken in New Zealand and abroad.

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

CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth)

Ocean water properties such as temperature are measured directly, while conductivity is used to tell us the salinity. It also captures water samples at different depths for a variety of chemical and biological measurements made either on the vessel or back in the laboratory.

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