Survey Reveals Diversity Of Plant And Fish Species In The Bay Of Islands

A survey of the Bay of Islands' marine life and supporting ecosystems is nearing completion, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) said today.Survey Reveals Diversity Of Plant And Fish Species In The Bay Of Islands.

Fieldwork by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) is now focussed on processing the data field teams have collected.

NIWA began gathering field information from the Bay in August 2008 as part of a two-year Ocean Survey 20/20 project coordinated by LINZ.

The project began with a comprehensive seabed mapping exercise in the Bay and the eastern Northland coast between Mimiwhangata and Spirits Bay/North Cape. This work informed the biodiversity and sediment sampling phase which began in 2009, and included water sampling to analyze bacteria and water quality, a survey of benthic fauna and algae, and sampling to look at sediment, rocky reef assemblages, invertebrates, and fish.

Preliminary findings have been released today in an interim progress report produced by NIWA and available on the LINZ website.

NIWA project leader Dr Mark Morrison says that the report provides a short overview of progress and preliminary findings, with a final and more detailed report due at the end of July 2010.

The report contains images captured in the fish research trawl survey which was conducted in the outer bay of Islands and on the adjacent continental shelf. Baited Underwater Video was also completed capturing footage of fish assemblages which were attracted by the baits into the field of view. Data emerging from these deployments suggests that off shore deep soft sediment areas support large populations of red bandfish and small conger eels as well as other species.

Dr Morrison said in February that NIWA had noted a higher diversity of plants on the sediment surface than was expected, particularly in soft sediment areas. Fieldwork since then has provided a much richer picture of the diversity of plant and fish species in the Bay of Islands.

The final report will be released at the same time as the launch of a web portal hosted by NIWA, which will provide the public access to all the data collected in the Bay of Islands Coastal Project survey. A reference library on the portal will feature digital images of plant and animal groups on the sea floor.

“The aim is to make this information as widely and publicly available as possible. The huge volume of data collected will serve future research for management of the Bay of Islands, as an important coastal system with a diverse range of habitats and species, and as an iconic tourist destination” says Dr Morrison.

The Bay of Islands Coastal Survey project is being carried out in conjunction with the Department of Conservation and Ministry of Fisheries, with input from local stakeholders including the Northland Regional and Far North District councils, tangata whenua and Bay of Islands Maritime Park Inc.

For more information on the project see: