Keeping tabs on Fiordland’s sharks and researching our deep-sea realm

Our Changing World

Using acoustic tags and a network of receivers attached to the seafloor, researchers are tracking the movements of sevengill sharks in Fiordland. They want to understand how these apex predators adjust to changing ocean temperatures, particularly during marine heat waves. Plus, an international collaboration involving a high-tech German research vessel is exploring New Zealand’s deep-sea realm.

Guests:

• Eva Ramey, PhD candidate, Victoria University of Wellington
• Dr Alice Rogers, Victoria University of Wellington Coastal Ecology Lab
• Dr Kareen Schnabel, NIWA
• Professor André Freiwald, Senckenberg am Meer Research Institute
• Dr Cornel de Ronde, GNS

Learn more:

• Read the accompanying article.
• Listen to this 2016 episode about the Great white sharks of Australia and New Zealand.
• RNZ journalist Kate Green also hopped aboard the RV Sonne to find out about its technology and capabilities.
• This is not the first time the RV Sonne has been in New Zealand waters, one previous expedition also involved investigations of underwater volcanoes.

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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details