Get ready to investigate some of the ocean's unsolved mysteries!

This webinar will take us on a journey to learn what scientists have revealed from some of the most remote places on our ocean planet, including in our own 'backyard'! Find out how these fascinating discoveries give us clues to how much more we have to learn. Join us as we dive into Ocean Literacy Principle #7: The ocean is largely unexplored.

28 August, 7pm

Register here for free!

Speaker spotlight:

Sadie Mills

Sadie Mills is the Collection Manager of the Earth Sciences New Zealand Invertebrate Collection, a Nationally Significant Collection and Database holding over 350,000 jars of preserved marine invertebrates from around New Zealand, Antarctica and the wider South West Pacific. Sadie is responsible for the team that supports the long-term care of the Collection to provide access to researchers and is involved with the planning and preparation for many research voyages completing over 500 days at sea doing deep sea biodiversity research. These include campaigns to Antarctica and around New Zealand on the R/V Tangaroa and on international research vessels in New Zealand waters.

Sadie's presentation "Exploring the deep: Secrets of New Zealand’s Bounty Trough", will detail a recent deep sea research expedition she was a part of:

A team of scientists spent 21 days investigating the Bounty Trough off the coast of the South Island of Aotearoa last year on a voyage led by Ocean Census, NIWA (now Earth Sciences New Zealand) and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The expedition focused on the benthic biodiversity (animals living on the seafloor) of the Bounty Trough system, one of the major deep-sea canyon-channel systems in Aotearoa. The voyage started at the canyons off the Ōtākou coast, before heading down the 800km long Bounty Channel (at depths of 1500–4800m) towards the Bounty Fan and ultimately onto the Southwest Pacific abyssal plain. Over 400 new species have been discovered so far at two workshops following the expedition with more discoveries yet to come.

More about the series

Our moderator Alison Ballance is an award-winning author and former producer of Radio New Zealand’s weekly science and environment programme ‘Our Changing World’. She brings her passion for sharing knowledge and stories, as well as her background as a zoologist, wildlife filmmaker, writer, radio producer and diver.

This webinar is part of our Ngā Kōrero III series, supported by the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, aiming to bring Ocean Literacy Principles to life. In this series you will meet experts in marine science and mātauranga Māori, learn about new discoveries and progress in marine protection, and increase awareness of opportunities for action. Hear from a diverse range of speakers including scientists, adventurers, advocates, holders of traditional Māori knowledge, and community leaders.