Marine Science Otago

03/06/2026

03/06/2026

📣📣 Calling all kaiako!! Applications for the BLAKE Inspire for teachers programme are now open!!

This programme is such a great opportunity for environmental education, alongside professional and leadership development. Definitely worth signing up for!!

06/05/2026

A day out on the RV Polaris II ⛴️🌊🦭

28/04/2026

Calling all Otago residents! 📣📣

Come along to one of these community hui on the 7th and 14th of May to share your experiences of living alongside Sea Lions, learn what’s happening with current research around them, and help create better management for them and for you! 🦭🦭

Sign up at the link: https://forms.office.com/r/JkpW8uU7p0

23/04/2026

Join us tomorrow out at Portobello for the City Nature Challenge! 🌿🐚🪸🦀

We’ll be doing a Bioblitz to discover and record as many species as we can on our shore and upload them all to iNaturalist 🔍🕵️🐠

If you can’t make it to Portobello, there are other Bioblitz events which you can attend in Ōtepoti, you can find more details about them and other ways to participate at www.wilddunedin.nz/cnc

13/04/2026

We still have tickets left for our last Wild Dunedin event for 2026! Book your spot for 'Sustainability on the Seashore' at: https://wilddunedin.ssboxoffice.com/events/sustainability-on-the-seashore/
Become a citizen scientist & learn how to ID local marine creatures & why it's so important to monitor them. Where: 185 Hatchery Road | When: Sunday 19th of April, 9:30am | Details in poster below 👀👇

08/04/2026

One of our Postgraduate researchers is hosting a community hui with Dive Otago to capture how sea lions interact with humans in the water, which is very relevant after this weekends reported incident.

All who utilise our waters are welcome! 🌊🏄🚣‍♀️⛵️🤿🏊‍♀️

Just remember to sign up on the online form using the QR code above 🦭

20/03/2026

The incredible Wild Dunedin Festival of Nature is coming up and we can’t wait for all of the great events!! 🐧🌿🌊

Sustainability on the Seashore is one of the events on offer at the NZ Marine Studies Centre. It’s happening on Sunday 19th April, and we’d love for you to join us!! 🦀🐠🐚

15/03/2026

We’ve loved sharing some of our favourite Manaia | Big Belly Seahorse facts with you over the last couple of weeks for Te Ika o te Tau | Fish of the Year 2026! 🌊🐴

These weird and wonderful fish still have a lot of mystery surrounding them. They’re hard to study in the wild so very little is known about their abundance and behaviour, but we do know that they face some serious threats! Habitat destruction, pollution, warming oceans, ocean acidification, trawling, bycatch, overfishing and poaching are all threats that Manaia face daily and they’re getting increasingly worse. But the more awareness we have of them and these issues, the more we can push for their protection!!

That’s why we love the mahi that Mountains to Sea are doing, to raise awareness for the different fish around Aotearoa, no matter how small, big, ugly, cute, or human(!) they are 🐠🐟🐡🦈🏊‍♂️

A huge kā mihi nui | thank you so much to everyone who voted for Manaia | Big Belly Seahorse, who came in at a VERY respectable 4th place!!! 🥳🎉🙌

Tino pai!!! Congratulations to the Northland Mudfish for taking the crown!! 👑🏆👏 a well deserved win for an amazing fish!!

Ka pai tō mahi on your excellent competition Mountains to Sea!! We can’t wait for next year!! .org.nz

03/12/2025

Beautiful artwork by the incredible Professor Ceridwen Fraser! We’re very lucky to have her helping to brighten up our workplace! 😍🦭

🌊 Stunning stained-glass mahi by Marine Science Otago Professor Ceridwen Fraser that’s now on display in the foyer of the Geology Museum 🌈

🐟 Ceridwen created the work to celebrate some of our amazing local marine life, and includes - Giant ‘bladder’ kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera / rimurimu) - one of the fastest-growing species on the planet; New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri / pakeke); and Ctenophores (‘comb jellies’) - an ancient group that have been in our seas for more than 500 million years 😮

The work's installation has coincided with the exciting move of the Department of Marine Science into the same building as the Department of Geology, bringing together Otago’s awesome strengths in earth sciences 🌏

📷 Photo credit thanks to Gerard O’Brien, and link to the ODT story here 🔗
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/campus/window-be-put-display