Estuaries such as Whangārei Harbour are already brim full at super-high king tides, evidenced by the sea almost overtopping this land’s edge Town Basin stone wall as a cyclist and walker use the loop walkway and cars travel along critical roading access to Whangārei Heads and beyond. Photo / Susan Botting
Estuaries such as Whangārei Harbour are already brim full at super-high king tides, evidenced by the sea almost overtopping this land’s edge Town Basin stone wall as a cyclist and walker use the loop walkway and cars travel along critical roading access to Whangārei Heads and beyond. Photo / Susan Botting
Northlanders are being encouraged to take photos of this week’s king tides in a citizen-scientist project to help monitor the impact of sea-level rise into the future.
Northland Regional Council (NRC) is asking for people to take local photos of the effects of king tides today (March 11), tomorrow (March 12), Wednesday (March 13) and Thursday (March 14), uploading them to its website.
Photographers upload the photos from around the highest tide time to the council website, where they are also added to a map of the region to show what’s happening and where.
The council is seeking king tide photos from Northland’s east coast from March 11-14 and the west coast on March 11 and 12.
NRC said citizen-scientist photography had an important role in data monitoring and collection and built a useful pool of local knowledge.
“Your photo may help us identify areas that are already at risk from higher water levels,” the NRC website says.
The photos are used to observe, visualise and understand the impacts of future sea-level rise on coastal communities, help document current coastal flood risks, validate climate-change models, and serve as a living record of change for future generations.
Whangārei Monday cancer walking group members (from left) Max Atkinson, Keith Whalley (with dog Missy), Peter Attwood, Tony Williams and Bill Gibbs walking the Town Basin loop during the king tide. Photo / Susan Botting
Members of a Whangārei cancer Monday morning walking group, who were walking the Town Basin loop, said this morning’s (Monday) tide was definitely rising.
“The tides are getting higher at Kissing Point,” Peter Attwood said.
Tūtūkākā tides were also doing the same Keith Whalley said.
The men, who are also former boaties, walk the Town Basin loop weekly and were there at the 9.28am king tide high today .
Members said photographing the impacts of these tides was a great idea.
Town Basin yachties Andre and Hannah Waidelich at the Town Basin. Photo / Susan Botting
Meanwhile, Town Basin German yachties Andre and Hannah Waidelich, who live on their 10-metre yacht, said it was important councils ensured their infrastructure could deal with the challenges of king tides in a sea level-challenged future. Germany was also experiencing similar issues, the couple said.
King tides and their effects were visible locally and across the ocean.
The couple said the impact of sea level rise was clear throughout their travels including in the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia where the biggest high tides were already threatening some of the group’s about 80 islands and atolls.
King tides are the highest high tides of the year that happen roughly every seven months.
New Zealand’s $33 million Hundertwasser Art Centre looks over boats, only metres from the Whangārei Town Basin where the sea level is predicted to inch ever higher into a climate-change-challenged future.
Photo / Susan Botting
This year’s autumn king tides are over several days in January, February, March and April when the sun, moon and Earth align to create a strong gravitational pull on the ocean. They happen when the full or new moon coincides with the time when the moon is closest to Earth in its monthly orbit.
Climate change and sea-level rise amplifies the height of these king tides.
“When king tides occur during floods or storms, water levels can rise even higher and have the potential to cause great damage to the coastline and coastal property,” the NRC website says.
“King tides give us a glimpse into the future of what Northland’s coastline may look like as a result of sea-level rise,” NRC’s website says.
“This is because as sea levels rise, the highest high tides will become even higher and reach further inland.
“We want to understand how higher sea levels resulting from climate change could impact Northland’s coastline and sharing photos of local king tides will help understand and plan for this.”
Next month, the council is wanting photos from the east coast on April 9-11 and west coast on April 9-10. In May it is wanting photos from the east coast only, from May 8-10.
