A stunning summer's day in Wellington has attracted some aquatic visitors to the coastline, with locals spotting orcas and dolphins.

NIWA marine ecology technician Mark Fenwick has observed the dramatic changes to Kaikoura's crayfish habitats.

A researcher who has uncovered new insights into New Zealand's ocean environment says seafloor communities need better protection against any future deep-sea mining.

This year is set to become New Zealand's hottest on record, breaking the previous record set in 1998, scientists say.

A major expedition to the submarine Kaikoura Canyon is assessing whether the November 14 quake elevated tsunami risks to coastal settlements.

A Hastings man who decided to set a crab net at Te Awanga beach got more than he bargained for.

Scientists have revealed astonishing new insights into how the 7.8-magnitude quake affected New Zealand's seabed.

The Prime Minister's bodyguards directed traffic around a high rise close to collapse, slips caused traffic chaos and homes were evacuated in capital.

Predicting large earthquakes is not as simple as looking to the moon or watching the pet cat. A post online predicting an earthquake

Hotter than average temperatures can be expected across the entire country over the next three months - but the warm won't come without rain.

Scientists who sought to solve mysteries about hammerhead sharks were only left with another when one of the first adults ever tagged ended up eluding them.

A weather balloon with cameras attached has captured a stunning view of Central Otago from the sky.

A wetter summer season is on the cards for the upper North Island - but that doesn't mean people should go cancelling their Coromandel holiday plans.

Niwa scientists work in some of the world's most extraordinary landscapes. These stunning environments are celebrated in an annual photography competition.

The potential environmental impacts of controversial off-shore mining will be investigated in a new multi-million dollar study.

COMMENT: Misinformation is counterproductive in battling dramatic decline of species in Auckland Islands.

Maximum temperatures sprang into the late teens in much of the country, and more good weather is heading our way.

Across the country the average temperature was 10.2C making it the warmest June on record.

For almost a century, the Mason family have kept a close eye on the weather. But now, at 94, volunteer Alan Mason of Feilding is looking for a successor.

A state-of-the-art underwater glider - the first of its kind in New Zealand - is set to uncover new insights into our offshore environment.

Summer may officially be over but forecasters are predicting average to above average temperatures for most of the country over autumn.

A massive pipi bed in Whangarei harbour is dying and there are fears the change could destabilise the harbour - and Marsden Point itself, Radio NZ reports.

Growing global market opportunities and the need to strengthen supply chains are creating a thirst for capital among agricultural co-operatives around the world, rural lending specialist Rabobank said.

Drought in much of the country is helping to drive dairy prices higher, but farmgate prices for beef and sheepmeat are weakening.

Two-thirds of more than 160 monitored river swimming sites in NZ have been deemed unsafe for a dip. Where are the worst spots?

At the age of 13. I was given a maximum and minimum thermometer, then bought a rain gauge and built my own weather recording station in Dunedin, observing the weather and recording observations of temperature and rainfall.

There is a high chance a tropical cyclone could hit the country sometime over the next few months, a report released by the national climate centre said today.