"Rope and cable ties are the essential tools of oceanographers. I watched measuring instruments on ropes being lowered into the sub-zero ocean through a hole in the sea ice. As they went down, the rope made drawing like patterns on the water surface. This is when I saw the potential of rope as a drawing material," she said.
The project has been developing for the past five years, where more than 1000 participants, including schoolchildren and their whānau, helped with working on it.
Previous iterations of The Unseen have been on display in Nelson and Tauranga.
Hawke's Bay schoolchildren will be getting their own opportunity to 'draw' with rope and cable ties as the aquarium's educators extend the artwork to classrooms for Seaweek.
All student contributions will be added to the main piece until it leaves for its next showing in June.
The National Aquarium also plans to incorporate it into the April school holiday programme and to have public workshops.
If it was laid out in a straight line, the rope used for The Unseen would extend for 12 kilometres, more than half the distance between Napier and Hastings.
General manager Rachel Haydon said it was new for the National Aquarium to have an artwork on display, let alone one of this scale.
"But Gabby's message and methods are so engaging to help people understand some of these larger issues the ocean is facing. We can't wait to see how it is received."
A Napier City council spokeswoman said in a statement the rope used will be recycled for other community projects and groups who have expressed an interest in repurposing the pieces, while the cable ties will be donated to a recycled plastics design programme which transforms plastic waste into new objects.
Seaweek is an annual national week hosted by the NZ Association for Environmental Education, running from March 5 to 13 with the aim of helping New Zealanders connect with and celebrate the ocean.
