Coastal Survey Begins Next Week

10 October 2008: Media release

The first of the government's Ocean Survey 20/20 projects to survey a coastal area begins in the Bay of Islands next week.

The survey is the largest of its kind to take place in New Zealand coastal waters.

The main survey area, covering the Bay of Island's 300 square kilometres, is contained inside a line joining Capes Brett and Wiwiki. Outside this line a further 3,230 square kilometres between North Cape and Mimiwhangata will be surveyed to a depth of 200 metres, though not as intensively.

"The main focus of this project is to map the Bay of Islands' marine biodiversity as well as its seabed habitats," says Land Information New Zealand's General Manager Policy, Kevin Kelly. "We also intend to collect sediment and water quality data and possibly information on the geology under the seabed.

"The data we collect during the project can then be used by government agencies, regional and district councils, and local groups to develop and manage the Bay of Islands coastal resources in a more effective and sustainable way."

Two previous Ocean Survey 20/20 projects - the Chatham / Challenger Biodiversity and Seabed Habitat Project and the International Polar Year (IPY) Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML) Project - focused on offshore, deepsea environments. In contrast, the Bay of Islands project will take a good look at things closer to home.

Initial planning for the project has been done by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), the Ministry of Fisheries, the Department of Conservation and the Northland Regional Council. Other government agencies and local groups from the Bay of Islands, such as the Bay of Islands Maritime Park society and tangata whenua, will also be involved as the project progresses.

LINZ has contracted the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) to deliver the first phase of the project, which involves coastal mapping of the physical marine environment. This survey is expected to be completed by 22 November 2008.

During phase one, the RV Tangaroa will survey depths from 200 to 50 metres and the RV Pelorus will survey depths from 50 to 10 metres. A third craft with side scan sonar will survey depths from 10 to two metres. Shallower areas will be covered by high resolution aerial photography at very low tide.

The RV Tangaroa and the RV Pelorus are due to arrive in the Bay of Islands on Tuesday or Wednesday next week.

The project's second phase, a biological survey, is expected to begin around May 2009.

Find out more about the Bay of Islands project and the Ocean Survey 20/20 programme.