One of the world's biggest and most luxurious private sailing yachts, the Athena, was "shrink wrapped" in Westhaven marina yesterday.

Anti-whaling activists say reports of Japan's annual Southern Ocean whale hunt being suspended are a bluff.

The death of a dolphin after a collision with a boat in the Hauraki Gulf has prompted a warning for boaties to take care around marine mammals.

The Japanese whaling fleet appears to have called an early end to its whaling season in Antarctica, a move which conservationists tentatively say could spell an end to whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Enjoy your shucking while it lasts. Wild oysters are now "functionally extinct" in many places where they were once plentiful.

Pirates operating off the coast of Somalia have begun to use aggressive new tactics including torture against captives.

Broken toilets, faulty latches on cabin doors and leaky ceilings are among new complaints by passengers on the liner Pacific Pearl.

The luxury Auckland-based cruise ship Pacific Pearl has run into more drama on the high seas.

Alison Shanks has stood on the dais to receive world championship and Commonwealth Games gold medals. But she remembers just as vividly standing at the helm of the Spirit of New Zealand.