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Go snorkelling

Planning on going snorkelling in Tāmaki Makaurau? Check out these handy dandy snorkel trail maps of some of our favourite snorkel spots. Learn about the best routes to take and some of the critters you can spot.

Auckland & Northland Community Events

Other Regional Community Events

Experiencing Marine Reserves can get you snorkelling in your local area! Whether you are wanting to snorkel in the open ocean, a beach, your local harbour or estuary, or your local marine reserve, we can help you out! Your experienced snorkel instructors and guides will provide all the gear and instruction necessary to help you connect with the ocean safely!

Snorkel Trail Maps

Experiencing Marine Reserves can get you snorkelling in your local area! Whether you are wanting to snorkel in the open ocean, a beach, your local harbour or estuary, or your local marine reserve, we can help you out! Your experienced snorkel instructors and guides will provide all the gear and instruction necessary to help you connect with the ocean safely!

To find out more about how you can get snorkelling check out our events page for community events or find out how to get your school snorkelling by expressing your interest!

Water Safety

With the increasing frequency and severity of storms during a climate crisis it’s important to check before you swim! Using www.safeswim.org.nz/ you can get up-to-date information on wether it is safe to swim in your local area. If your local area isn’t listed, use LAWA’s swim smart checklist to help you decide if your local area is safe to swim in.

When in doubt, use the www.watersafetynz.org  guide for freediving and snorkel safety

 

Think deep!

D- Don’t drink alcohol or take drugs when you’re thinking of going diving.

E - Equipment always needs to be good and in good working order. 

E - Exercise and keep fit if you’re going diving. Always have a health check to ensure you’re fit for the task.

P - Take a pal, partner or another person! Never dive alone. Always dive with a buddy, and constantly monitor each other. Employ a one-up, one-down system.

Always be prepared, learn water safety skills, set rules for being safe in the water, Always use safe and correct equipment including lifejackets and know the weather and water conditions before you get in.

Be alert to changing marine conditions and check out windy.com and metservice for up-to-date weather conditions and information. Dive to the conditions and your ability.

https://www.metservice.com/national

https://www.windy.com/

https://www.swellmap.com/

Before you go out, always check the marine weather forecast. Marine weather forecasts state what the weather is expected to do. Land and general forecasts do not take into account wind speed over water (which is double that over land) or the waves or swell. If a land forecast does give wind speed, it is in km/hr and that is an indicator that you are listening to the wrong forecast.

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iNaturalist

iNaturalist is a social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. Seen something cool? Something unusual that isn't usually there? Or just want some help identifying flora and fauna in your backyard? iNaturalist can help! Simply upload a photo, some information about where you found it and what you saw and the community will help you to identify it! 

https://inaturalist.nz/

See what we have spotted on our adventures: https://inaturalist.nz/people/emr_auckland 

Image credit: Sara Kulins, read more here https://gulfjournal.org.nz/2022/07/a-pointed-predicament-the-long-spined-sea-urchin/

iNaturalist is also a great database for tracking the movement and distribution of animals in the face of climate change and ocean stresses. For example, the Long-spined Sea Urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) is spreading around the Northeastern coast of the North Island, NZ. Centrostephanus is a genus of urchins that are more spiky, more ravenous and more destructive than the common kina.These urchins add to the growing decline of algae forests - a phenomenon known as Kina barrens - around North-eastern NZ.

SeaWeek

https://seaweek.org.nz/ 

Seaweek – Kaupapa Moana - is New Zealand’s annual national week celebrating the sea. Seaweek is an opportunity for all ages to discover the many ways that our lives are connected to the sea. In March every year, we encourage and promote events and community action projects to inspire and enable this connection, through:

  • activities and presentations within schools 
  • community beach clean-ups 
  • kayaking and snorkelling experiences 
  • marine ecosystem field trips and engagements with citizen science.

Seaweek is coordinated nationally by Sir Peter Blake Marine Education and Recreation Centre (MERC) and is made possible through the work of a large network of volunteers with support from a wide range of individuals, groups, businesses and organisations. We’re grateful for the collaborative work which enables us to offer and promote opportunities which inspire Kiwis to take time to connect with the sea.

During Seaweek, our EMR team run a range of events throughout Aotearoa. Keep an eye out on our calendar and social media pages for more information. 

During Seaweek there is also the Ocean Champion Challenge:

The national Seaweek Ocean Champion Challenge – Moana Toa Whakatara - is a call for all environmental heroes to share with us what action they are taking to help solve a problem impacting our marine environment.The Ocean Champion Challenge is about celebrating the work of many passionate ocean advocates and sharing their stories to inspire others.


Find out more: https://seaweek.org.nz/oceanchampionchallenge

Fish of the Year

Discover some of Aotearoa’s favourite ika in EMR’s annual Fish of the Year competition run during SeaWeek. 

Now in its third year, EMR’s (Experiencing Marine Reserves) annual competition is aimed to raise awareness on some of the issues marine life face and educate Kiwis about the incredible biodiversity in New Zealand’s freshwater and marine environments.

In 2023, 39 ika from both freshwater and marine habitats were included in the competition. 

Oceanic manta rays, great white sharks, and basking sharks were new additions to the competition in 2023. These animals are protected under the Wildlife Act 1953. It is illegal to hunt, kill, or harm manta rays, marine mammals, and a variety of sharks within New Zealand’s national waters (200 nm limit around New Zealand). As ocean sentinels, their survival is dependent on a huge range of environmental variables across large ocean spaces, reflecting cumulative stressors in their habitat.

Seven freshwater fish were also in the running for 2023’s competition, with our sister organisation Whitebait Connection backing the īnanga, one of the many fishes caught as “whitebait”.

To meet the fishes included in the competition check out the link below:

https://emr.org.nz/fish 

or meet our winners here: 

https://emr.org.nz/news/emr-news?view=article&id=300:fish-of-the-year-2023-winner-announcement&catid=23:latest-news