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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People with ADHD often fidget more than those without. Why might this be? Does it help them focus? Or distract them further? An Auckland Bioengineering Institute researcher has teamed up with the Mātai Medical Institute in Gisborne to investigate this using advanced MRI techniques. And at Waikereru ecosanctuary, local birds are being enlisted in a trial to help speed up the regeneration of native bush.

Guests:

• Professor Justin Fernandez, Auckland Bioengineering Institute
• Dr Gil Newburn, Mātai Medical Institute
• Professor Dame Anne Salmond, Waikereru Ecosanctuary

Learn more:

• Read the accompanying articles: Recruiting the birds to bring back the bush and Why fidgeting might be a good idea.
• In 2017 Alison Ballance did a story about The 1769 Gardenwhere she spoke to the garden designer, curator and local botany expert.
• To learn about the Mātai Medical Institute, listen to The advances in MRI coming out of Gisborne from November 2024.
• The Mātai Medical Institute is also involved in research into recovery post meth addiction, concussion in teenage rugby players, and muscle development in children with cerebral palsy.

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The Eastern Whio Link project has been working to restore the whio or blue duck population in the rivers of the Waioeka Gorge. Sam Gibson, aka Sam the Trap Man, explains why he thinks the project has been so successful, and what he loves about these scrappy little ducks. Then, Professor Matthew Stott speaks to Claire Concannon about the complexities working on an active volcano in Antarctica, and what they hope to learn from the microbes they find there.

Guests:

• Sam Gisbon, Eastern Whio Link
• Professor Matthew Stott, University of Canterbury

Learn more:

• Read and see more photos in the accompanying articles: Searching for extreme life and Trapping to help wild whio.
• Head on to the slopes of Mount Erebus, and into an ice cave with Alison Ballance and Craig Cary in this 2011 episode.
• Matthew Stott also works with heat-loving microbes in Rotorua, including some that appear to have broken the ‘rule of thumb’ and are only found in New Zealand.
• Sam the Trap Man has also shared some yarns about bush life with RNZ’s Saturday Morning.

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