A research vessel has taken time away from the sea ice of the Antarctic and the ocean's deepest trenches to show Dunedin its secrets this weekend.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research's (Niwa) largest vessel RV Tangaroa is docked at the Fryatt St wharf today for a public open day.
It is in the city as part of Otago Museum's "James Cameron - Challenging the Deep" exhibition.
The ship is responsible for everything from fisheries stock assessments to marine biology, marine geology, ocean physics and atmospheric studies.
In 2017 the ship retrieved what the crew believed to be the deepest ever sediment sample from the bottom of the ocean using a wire-deployed corer from 9.994km deep in the Kermadec Trench.
Niwa vessel operations general manager Greg Foothead said it wanted to show the ship's abilities to the Dunedin public.
Scientific equipment would be on display and technicians on board to explain the crew's work.
Afterwards it would head to Wellington for maintenance before travelling out to sea again for more fisheries research.
