NIWA

The first voyage update has landed. Grab a cup of something hot and find out why this bunch are swapping their Kiwi summer ☀️ for Antarctica❄️! ✍️ Written by co-voyage leader, Prof Craig Stevens After nearly a year of planning we are finally underway. The crew of RV Tangaroa cast off the lines from Burnham Wharf at 4pm on January 14th and we skirted the tip of Miramar Peninsula, past the Massey Memorial, and out through the harbour entrance – dropping the harbour pilot as we went. There is little forgiveness sailing out of Wellington as you go straight into Southern Ocean conditions. We were fortunate that, after 10 days of southerly winds that had seen cancelled ferry sailings, the conditions had eased enough that, whilst not flat, it wasn’t carnage. We now commence a long straight line south. The long transit down gives the team time to get to know the ship, the gear and each other. We have 20 scientists aboard and 18 crew, so it’s a reasonably full ship. Most of the science team share a cabin, so you sure get to know your cabin mate. The crew are putting the team through daily drills so the science team can stay safe in what is a complex work environment. We have three key voyage objectives plus several side-activities. (1) maintaining our heat/salt sensors located at various locations around the Ross Sea (2) comparing eDNA and acoustics sensing of fish populations and zooplankton, and (3) the biggest single task is mapping and cataloguing of seabed plants and animals. We also have smaller projects monitoring the atmosphere as we sail and retrieving whale monitoring sensors. The tech is a nice mix of gear that the oceanographer of 1950 would recognise, along with cutting-edge robotics, acoustics and eDNA methods. I’ll focus on the teams, Institutes and work in later updates. This is the 16th Tangaroa voyage to the Ross Sea. It's interesting to reflect on the evolution of funding over that time. There have been voyages primarily funded by things as broadly spread as hydrographic surveying baselines and whale population counts. Then came fisheries science, which evolved into Marine Protected Area research. The last few voyages have seen a steady growth in support from the NZ Antarctic Science Platform which has a "climate in Antarctic and implications for NZ" focus. This looks to be true for future voyages too, along with central Government support for the vessel-time. This enables longer-term planning and means the Antarctic ocean research community can build national and international linkages, as well as the science that comes with that longer-term commitment to data and capacity-building. Read the full update https://lnkd.in/gm2ZQk-x 📷Gert-Jan Jeunen, Ira Cooke, Russell Cornelissen, Luke McPake & Jasmin McInerney

Kiwi scientists, including several from NIWA, are joining their German colleagues for a four-week voyage aboard the German research vessel Sonne to study coral habitats off the coast of New Zealand. 🚢 The waters around Aotearoa New Zealand are considered a hotspot for cold-water corals, having some of the most diverse and abundant deepsea cold-water coral communities. 🪸  Corals provide important habitat for many species, but many corals are fragile, slow growing and long-lived making them vulnerable to human impacts and climate change. Using a range of equipment, including multibeam echosounders and underwater cameras, the team will survey the distribution, diversity and abundance of New Zealand’s cold-water corals and study their environmental drivers. 🌊 🤝 This voyage is led by the German research institute Senckenberg am Meer, working in collaboration with the MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, NIWA, DOC, the University of Auckland, and Te Papa Tongarewa. 📸 Luke McPake

A cheeky local lent environmental monitoring technicians Patrick Butler and Hamish Sutton a helping claw during a routine inspection of the Arthur’s Pass weather station recently. 🔨 ‘Helping’ might be a bit of a stretch…the inquisitive young kea stuck its beak into everything including Patrick’s flask of coffee that quickly became a casualty of the kea’s curiosity. ☕ Luckily, a replacement coffee was available at the store just down the road. The village is well-known for having populations of cheeky kea – the ‘locals’ – who boldly interact with visitors. This one might need a bit more training before it can become an official member of the team. 🦜

38 scientists and crew have set sail for Antarctica today aboard NIWA’s RV Tangaroa. 🚢❄️   They’ll spend six weeks at sea, conducting science that will help to better understand the impacts of climate change on the Ross Sea, and the impacts of these changes on the rest of the globe.   Tangaroa will travel more than 3,500 kilometres south of New Zealand, down to the Ross Ice Shelf where the team will be deploying gliders and Argo floats, retrieving instruments and taking various measurements from the water. 🌊   They will also deploy underwater video cameras, and sample some of the unique and beautiful marine life living in these freezing waters.   Focusing on the western Ross Sea continental shelf area, the science will help to understand physical oceanographic processes relating to climate, and the ecological health of areas of the Ross Sea with implications for the Marine Protected Area.   This voyage will be Tangaroa’s 16th trip to Antarctica and the furthest south the vessel has ever been.   Read the full story here 👉 https://lnkd.in/erCFvGbx   🤝 This voyage is supported by funding from Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Antarctic Science Platform, The University of Auckland, University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, University of Canterbury, and overseas funding agencies.

Looking to build a wetland but don’t know where to start? NIWA ecologists Chris Tanner and Brandon Goeller, in conjunction with Massey University's Catchment Solutions Project, are offering a free masterclass on constructed wetlands. 🌿💧 Constructed wetlands are a proven nature-based solution to reduce on-farm nutrient and sediment losses. In this two-day course you'll learn what makes an effective wetland, how big they need to be, how to identify suitable sites, the design process, the best planting and much more.   The course is suitable for participants who are interested in on-farm mitigations to improve catchment water quality – you may be developing your own wetland, advising clients, coordinating a catchment group, or supporting rural catchment communities.   Please register your interest, and read all the details, here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ekcwy_Td   ⏰ Registration deadline: 14 February 2025 📅 Course dates: 27–28 February 2025 📍 Location: NIWA Hamilton

You might see our new research vessel Kaharoa II off Tasman Bay next week👀. Our fisheries scientists are conducting trials off the northwest coast of the South Island for 10 days. We are making sure the equipment is working as it should for future surveys🐟🌊. These trials will ensure Kaharoa II is ready to help inform management of New Zealand’s fish stocks. Find out more about the work here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gQtkyEPc

2024 was Aotearoa New Zealand’s 10th-warmest year on record. ⛅️ The 2024 nationwide average temperature calculated from NIWA’s seven station series was 13.25˚C, being 0.51˚C above the 1991-2020 annual average. Of New Zealand’s 10 warmest years on record, eight have occurred since 2013. 🌧️ Rainfall was below normal for much of eastern and northern Canterbury, Tasman, Wairarapa, Bay of Plenty, the Coromandel Peninsula, and Northland. Dargaville and Whitianga both had their driest year on record. Rainfall was above normal for western parts of Otago, and inland and western parts of Southland, with Lumsden observing its wettest year since records began in 1982. 🌡️ Annual temperatures were above average for much of Northland, northern Waikato, Bay of Plenty, coastal Hawke’s Bay, southern Taranaki, Whanganui, eastern and southern Wairarapa, Tasman, inland northern Canterbury, Banks Peninsula, and eastern Otago. ☀️ Marlborough takes the sunshine crown, with 2,769 hours of sunshine recorded at Blenheim, ahead of the wider Nelson area and Tauranga. Find the full 2024 annual climate summary here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eHtRvJxQ

If you see someone wearing a NIWA hat at your boat ramp this summer, please spare a few moments to help us out. 🐟🛥️ On behalf of Fisheries New Zealand, we conduct year-round surveys to get an idea of how many fish are being caught by recreational fishers every year. 🎣 The surveys are completely voluntary, easy and anonymous. What interviewers will be doing: ✅ Asking questions about your catch – how many fish you’ve caught and what kind ✅ Asking where you caught the fish and what bait you used ✅ Asking how long you spent fishing What they won’t be doing: ❌ Enforcing the law or checking that your catch meets the fishing rules ❌ Sharing your secret fishing spots This information will go towards stock assessments and informing fisheries management settings, such as catch and size limits. 📸 Richie Hughes

That’s a wrap for 2024! 🎉🎊 From AI flood forecasting to sea slug fashion, NIWA Wrapped presents the posts you loved the most this year. 🔹 AI flood forecasting 🔹 Lake Wānaka mapping 🔹 Who wore it better? Nudibranchs vs MetGala 🔹 Constructed wetlands 🔹 Kaharoa II christening 🔹 Northland Aquaculture Centre opening 🔹 New supercomputer announcement 🔹 Aurora Australis 🔹 Ocean Census voyage discoveries 🔹 Updated climate projections for Aotearoa New Zealand Thanks for following along. We can’t wait to share our science with you all next year. 🥂

And for our final Christmas trick – cirrus clouds that look like Rudolph! 🦌 Have a wonderful Christmas and relaxing summer holiday. ☀️ 🏖️ Our team are taking a break too – all NIWA offices will be closed until 3 January 2025. 🗓️ Meri Kirihimete and Seasons Greetings! Have a safe one. 🎄