Nga Hūhua - Opens 7 November

NZ Maritime Museum, Auckland

Beyond Auckland’s shoreline lies Te Moana-nui-a-Toi, the outer reaches of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park - an ocean abundant with life, yet largely unknown to most New Zealanders. On 7 November, the New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa will open Ngā Huhua: Abundance, a new immersive exhibition that brings this extraordinary place, one most people will never experience firsthand, to the heart of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

Through stunning underwater photography and immersive videography, visitors will encounter some of the Gulf’s most surprising residents: seven-metre-wide manta rays, critically endangered Bryde’s whales, several species of dolphins and toothed whales, turtles, sunfish, seals and unique NZ storm petrels, among many others. The exhibition blends science, mātauranga Māori, art, a storytelling in a multi-sensory experience. Interactive displays are brought to life by the voices of ocean advocates and the mana whenua of Aotea (Great Barrier Island), Ngāti Rehua Ngātiwai ki Aotea, the kaitiaki of Te Moana-nui-a-Toi.

“This exhibition is a celebration, but also a call to protect our moana,” says Vincent Lipanovich, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited New Zealand Maritime Museum Director. “Ngā Huhua: Abundance gives Aucklanders the chance to explore a marine world most are likely never to have seen, and to understand why more protection of Te Moana-nui-a-Toi is so urgent.”