The 3-panel Soil Moisture Deficit (SMD) map shows the historical soil moisture deficit at the date shown (left), the soil moisture deficit at the same time last year (middle) and the current soil ...

Scientists have found a new ghost shark that lives exclusively in the deep waters of Australia and New Zealand. The Australasian Narrow-nosed Spookfish was described by NIWA Fisheries Scientist Dr ...

Sea cucumbers are usually, well cucumber-shaped. However there are exceptions. Some have a wonderful collection of tentacles in odd-places, some are prickly, some look like a strawberry with tree-like ...

There is a 60% chance that La Niña will develop by the end of December. Tropical Pacific trade winds will continue to nudge the ocean in a La Niña-like direction. An alternative measure of central ...

NIWA has been awarded $10.2m to eradicate an invasive clam that was only recently discovered in New Zealand waters. The freshwater gold clam, or Corbicula fluminea, is native to eastern and southeast ...

Anyone can use the tool and provide data by using the survey available in the NIWA Citizen Science app. The survey/app provides a standardized way to record data on the characteristics of instream ...

A new NIWA-led study has found that climate change increased the amount of total rainfall during Cyclone Gabrielle by 10%. This additional rain fell during the most intense parts of the storm, ...

The development of updated national climate projections for Aotearoa New Zealand was completed in mid 2024. The data is available from the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) here. In the coming months ...

Benthic macroinvertebrates are small animals living among stones, logs, sediments and aquatic plants on the bottom of streams, rivers and lakes. Periphyton is algae that attaches or clings to plants ...

There are two methods to determine visual clarity in SHMAK; the clarity tube (or SHMAK tube) and the black disc method.

How healthy is your stream? SHMAK - the New Zealand Stream Health Monitoring and Assessment Kit - has been designed to help you find out. NIWA’s Stream Health Monitoring Assessment Kit (SHMAK) gives ...

Temperature Temperatures were near average (±0.50°C of average) or above average (0.51-1.20°C above average) for most of the country, with isolated pockets of well above average (>1.20°C above average ...