Ferry operator Fullers admits dumping raw sewage into the Hauraki Gulf, but says a new Waiheke Island vessel due in August will have large enough holding tanks to avoid that.

The stranding of nine orca in Southland is only the third such mass stranding of the species recorded in New Zealand, a specialist researcher says.

A Japanese whaling ship is reported to have tailed an anti-whaling ship into waters off Otago against the wishes of the NZ Govt, which labelled the move 'disrespectful'.

'When it first happened I was like, I'm not even getting in the bathtub again.' But surfer Darren Mills has changed his mind, after his shark encounter.

The Government should strongly censure Japan after one of its whaling vessels entered New Zealand's waters, the Green Party says.

Friends of experienced diver Bruce Porter have reacted with shock to his death after being hit by a boat.

'Wow, this guy's a whopper,' said experts of a 1.5m monster jellyfish that washed up on a Hobart beach last month. So what does its sting feel like?

Tony Abbott's administration has been accused of being the most conservation-hostile in living memory.

Motorists and beach-goers are again being urged to keep an eye on a king tide that has caused issues in recent days.

They're the world's largest animal - and very elusive - so it's no wonder NIWA scientists are thrilled at the number of blue whales swimming in NZ waters right now.

King tides are due to wash up on Auckland's shores just after 10am today, and the New Zealand Transport Agency is warning people to take extra care on coastal roads.

A Mexican fisherman who says he drifted for months across the Pacific Ocean before washing up on a remote Marshall Islands atoll is on his way home.

Eyes on the underwater world of New Zealand, photos by Richard Robinson. See more of his photos in this series at www.depth.co.nz.

The sole survivor of a boat capsize in Foveaux Strait which claimed the lives of eight people heard the screams of the only child on board just after a massive wave swamped the vessel in the middle of the night, a court has heard.

A New Zealander who survived being shipwrecked in shark-infested Fijian waters has lost part of his arm in an accident on board a foreign fishing vessel.

Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd says it has boxed in the Japanese whaling fleet's factory ship, effectively suspending whaling in the Southern Ocean.

A key question in the trial of Easy Rider owner Gloria Davis is her knowledge of the safety issues surrounding the vessel.

The skipper of a boat that sank in Foveaux Strait resulting in the deaths of eight people made a catalogue of errors, the trial of his widow heard yesterday.

Washington and Tokyo have been drawn into an unexpected diplomatic spat over the annual slaughter of dolphins in Taiji.

Crab fishers leaving a beach strewn with chicken carcasses have outraged residents and conservationists at Omaha.

The widow of the Easy Rider skipper faces trial today over the vessel's deadly sinking in Foveaux Strait nearly two years ago.

A pod of orca whales has been spotted near the entrance to Akaroa Harbour on Banks Peninsula.