• 1982?: black coral dies around the Poor Knights [observed by many divers] and further in the outer Hauraki Gulf, Simpson Rock, Great Barrier I. Young black coral trees can still be found around Port Fitzroy, Gt Barrier Island. [1]
• 1983?: mass mortality of demoiselles on the Poor Knights, Cavallis and Matauri Bay, noticed by many divers. [1]
• 1983: mass mortality of scallops and giant heart urchin (Brissus gigas) due to suffocating diatom slime (Cerataulina pelagica) [3]
• 1983?: brown slime (Ostreopsis spp.) first noted in autumn at Goat Island. Some sea urchins die. This symptom comes back every autumn and intensifies. By 1994 it is an all-year event with mass mortalities of grazing snails and sea urchins. [1]
• 1983: mass mortality of some sponges, particularly the rough fingersponge (Callispongia ramosa). [1]
• 1984-1987: many instances of large areas of sick kelp, as if infected by fungus, seen by many divers and scientists. [1]
• 1987: Degradation recognised as a severe, recurring event with rapidly increasing intensity. [1]
• 1989-1990: 60% of adult breeding yellow-eyed penguins wiped out by a mystery virus that also killed albatross in Otago. [NZH19980521]
• 1990: Seafriends marine conservation centre established to save our seas. Why are we losing so much so fast? [1]
• 1992: mass mortalities of plankton-eating schooling fish (40-80%): blue maomao, trevally, koheru, jack mackerel, demoiselle. Also a sudden decline in pink maomao and wrasses. [1]
• ? long-finned triplefin (Ruanoho decemdigitatus) disappears. [1]
• 1993: kelpbed deaths in the outer Hauraki Gulf: Leigh, Tawharanui, Kawau, Little Barrier I, Great Barrier I, Arid I, Mokohinau, Hen  & Chickens. Observed by many, including scientists. [1] [4]
• Many sponges die and again Callispongia ramosa. [1]
• Further decline in many fish species in the outer Hauraki Gulf, Poor Knights, Mokohinau, Mayor Island, Cavalli, Cape Brett. [1]
• 1994-96: mass mortalities of sea urchins from the far north to Mayor Island. [1]
• 1994: Many serious plankton blooms and the discovery that these are rather poisonous. Unfortunately no newspaper articles retained.
• 1995: brown fluff becomes a yearlong event and is observed in far away places. [1]
• Brown slime (Ostreopsis) kills grazers in rockpools, Goat Island marine reserve. [1]
• Brown slime is identified as a benthic dinoflagellate of the Ostreopsis genus. More poisonous benthic species are discovered.[11]
• Mass bullkelp die-off (Durvillaea antarctica) on westcoast beaches, also noted in 1960 [9]
• May: Tamaki Strait shellfish taking ban due to PSP toxin. [NZH19950516]
• July 12: mass mortalities of pilchard (Sardinops neopilchardus) in the outer Haurak Gulf, lasting four weeks, seen by many [1]. The mortality is later attributed to a herpes-like virus. [8] [NZH19950627]
• Aug: unusually large numbers of dead blue penguins near Whangarei. Birds were underweight, possibly from starvation or from same causes as pilchard deaths. [NZH19950815]
• 1996:
• Shellfish ban from Cape Karikari to Parengarenga Hr. Domoic acid from Pseudonitzschia 33ppm in water; 90ppm in scallop roe.
• 1997:
• Jan: Shellfish in Bay of Islands affected by toxic bloom Alexandrium minutum. [NZH19970118]
• Feb: 5 sperm whales strand on Farewell Spit and die. [NZH19970225]
• May: Shellfish ban in eastern Bay of Plenty. Some people suffer tingling mouths and 3 days abdominal pain. [NZH19970517]
• Dec: toxic algae found in Whangarei Hr, but shellfish beds not closed. [NZH19971219]
• 1998: in spring (Jul-Sep) 5 out of 6 crayfish walk out of the Goat Island marine reserve and they are caught outside. [1] [5]
• Stalked kelp rapidly invades the urchin habitats of all places that had kelpbed death in 1993, but not outside this area. [1] [6]
• Jan: Cat's eye snails (Turbo smaragdus) disappear from Piha, perhaps through harvesting. [NZH19980105]
• Feb: massive shellfish deaths on Northland beaches due to heat and/or toxic plankton blooms. [NZH19980213]
• Feb: nearly 200 Napier beach bathers fall ill to toxic algae. [NZH19980212]
• Feb: beachgoers off the Wairarapa coast experience nose and eye irritations & sore throuats due to toxic algal blooms. Shellfish ban Gt Barrier I. [NZH19980206]
• Feb/March: mass die-off of bullkelp along the west coast of the North Island, perhaps caused by a tongue of warm water.[9][NZH19990528]
• Feb/March: various kinds of jellyfish sting bathers. Stingy stringy thingy Praya dubia [RT19980326] [NZH19980321]
• March: algal bloom of Gymnodinium mikimotoi kills Wellington Harbour. Temperatures above 20ºC. [NZH19980318]
• March: Water up to 4 degrees warmer than normal recorded beyond the continental shelf off Northland. [NZH19980323]
• May: a ban on collecting and eating shellfish between Opotiki and Whakatane. [NZH19980514]
• May: yellow-eyed penguin deaths expected to amount to 90% of young birds by mystery virus [NZH19980521]
• July 6: Mass washups of parchment tubeworms (Chaetopterus variopedatus) on North Shore beaches. [NZH 19980706]
• Oct 15: Foam originating from dense plankton blooms washes up on Makara Bch, Wellington [NZH19981015]
• Oct 22: massive pilchard kill in Australia, feared to come to NZ. [NZH19981022]
• Oct 30: 288 pilot whales strand in Doughboy Bay, Stewart Island, perhaps unrelated to pollution. [NZH19981030]
• Nov: a mystery epidemic kills up to one third (1461) of Hookers sea lion pups and 45 (20%) breeding females at Auckland and Campbell Islands. Islands closed to tourists. [NZH 19981202, 19980206]
• 1999: For years the Bluff oysters have been decimated by Bonemia disease. Eight Auckland beaches closed for swimming due to bacterial contamination [NZH19990114]
• Feb: dead and dying blue penguins wash up on Bay of Plenty beaches, thought due to food shortage at sea or plankton toxins. [NZH19990211]
• Sep: charter boats report a sudden drop in kingfish numbers north of Mangawhai, perhaps caught as by-catch during pilchard fishing, or because their food, pilchards were diminished. [NZH19990930]
• Sep: extensive westcoast shellfish deaths near Wanganui. [NZH19990924]
• Oct: mysterious black skirt disease blights the coromandel scallop industry. It spread from Waiheke I to Tauranga. [NZH19991018]
• Dec: 4 dead dolphins (3 Common + 1 Bottlenose) in the Bay of Islands, found around Cape Brett. [NZH20000113]
• 2000: Mangroves are spreading due to increased levels of mud deposition
• Jan: poisoned oysters in the Bay of Islands linked to sewage. [NZH20000127] Black-skirt disease of scallops around Coromandel Pen. [NZH2000126]
• Feb: an epidemic devastates 60-90% coastal kina colonies, reported by Auckland Marine Laboratory in Leigh. [NZH20000221]
• May: an explosion of the hairy sea hare (Bursatella glauca) at Auckland's beaches, an indication of failing sewage systems. [NZH 20000516]
• May: an explosion of Sea Bathers Eruption stings many swimmers. [NZH20000510]
• Sep: the parchment tube worm (Chaetopterus variopedatus) is found spreading and damaging scallop beds from Houhora to Tauranga. [NZH20000626]
• May-Nov: the entire NI westcoast shellfish fishery closed because of a Gymnodinium catenatum bloom with record levels of poison (PSP), extending south into Wellington Hr. [NZH 20001122]
• Nov: 2 common dolphins die for unknown reasons high up in the Matakana estuary.
• Nov: toxic algal bloms in Hawkes Bay, Kaipara, Rodney [NZH20001117]
• 2001: mass mortality of plankton feeding fish (50-90%): blue maomao, trevally, koheru, jack mackerel, demoiselle, kahawai [1]
• Banded perch (Hypoplectrodes huntii) disappears  [1]
• Blue-dot triplefin (Notoclinops caerulepunctus) disappears [1]
• Rapid decline of butterfish (Odax pullus) in many places. [1]
• Parore (Girella tricuspidata) seen with white welts on their bodies. Many die in the four years afterwards. Seen by many [1]
• Many sponges die: orange finger sponge, Aaptos, golden and pink golfball sponges, various species of Polymastia, two species of Callyspongia and more, but some recover. [1]
• Jan: high levels of PSP plankton toxin causes shellfish closure and fish kills in Northland. [NZH20010112]
• Mar: shellfish ban in Marlborough. [NZH20020301]
• Jun: a plague of bluebottle jellyfish on eastcoast beaches [NZH200406??]
• 2002-2004: localised mass mortalities of sea urchins and other grazers due to brown slime (Ostreopsis sp.). [1]
• Sharp decline in most resident fish of the Poor Knights Islands [7][1] and Mayor Island. [1]
• Arid island and the northern end of Little Barrier have become very degraded. [1]
• Kelpbed thins in many places. No kelp recruits replacing it. Coralline algae taking over. Arid I, Cape Brett. [1]
• Feb: yellow intestinal seasquirt plague (Didemnum sp) in Whangamata Harbour, also found in Tauranga and Nelson. [NZH20020112, 20020208]
• Oct: thousands of fish of all species killed in Orewa Harbour by toxic algae. [RT20021015]
• Nov-Dec: very large red tide (Noctiluca scintillans) plankton blooms in the western Hauraki Gulf. [NZH20021102,20021204]
• 2003: Oct: PSP toxins reported well above regulatory limits, along the west coast from Ohawa to Maunganui Bluff. [NZH20031002]
• For years, the sea lettuce has been increasing in Tauranga Harbour, stinking as it rots. Everywhere in Northland magroves are expanding.
• Jan: in the past 18 months 5 Brydes whales found dead i NZ waters. [NZH20030108]
• Jan: 39 stranded pilot whales die at Stewart Island. [NZH20030106]
• Jan; rare beaked whale found alive in the Whau River near Auckland. [NZH20030129]
• Jun: Oyster harvest in the Bay of Islands closed due to toxins (PSP). [NZH20030620] Toxin alerts extend over the entire Hawkes Bay (PSP) and South Island NW coast (DSP). [NZH20030610]
• Jun: 11 Auckland beaches closed for swimming due to bacterial contamination. [NZH20030625]
• 2004: first occurrence of black rot in pink paint, Leigh, Little Barrier I. [1] The newspapers report on the Foreshore and Seabed debate and new marine reserve proposals, but little on effects from degradation.
• Dec: a pod of 74 pilot whales strand at Opoutere Beach (Coromandel) and 21 survive. [NZH20041201]
• Dec: a 10m sperm whale found dead between Karekare and Whatipu on Auckland's west coast [NZH20041201]
• 2009: degradation took Leigh by storm
• Mar: very little life is left on the intertidal Echinoderm Reef flats, presumably caused by the dinoflagellate slime Ostreopsis. Confirmed by Dr Bill Ballantine.
• Apr: the otherwise healthy Whangateau Harbour is severely affected by rot. Most of the eelgrass habitat vanished and with it the stalked-eye mudcrabs (Macropthalmus hirtipes) and other species. Note that the mudsnail Amphibola has been absent for over a decade. The Whangateau Harbourcare group who monitored shellfish populations for several years, reports an 84% mortality in cockles and pipis. Some think it was caused by warm weather. Confirmed by Dr Roger Grace. [Mahurangi Matters June 2009]. Scientists find bacteria a possible cause.
• Jul: dogs die by walking over East Auckland beaches (Cheltenham to Long Bay); many blue penguins washed up; extensive pilchard deaths; 6 dolphins died and washed up, all well fed. (NZH, RT)
• Oct-Nov: exceptionally wet and cold months, resulting in the absence of bees, flies, mosquitos, sandflies. As a result, two hatchings of young birds died (Nov-Jan). There are hardly any young birds. The tui who normally feeds on nectar and flower stamens, now hunts spiders under the eves, and digs the soil for worms. No ducklings survived. The sea remains unusually cold with 18ºC in Nov/Dec!
• 2010: clear skies and bright sunshine associated with cold seas. 12 weeks of drought Dec-Apr followed by 6 weeks of rain May-Jun.
• April: a major fish kill discovered at the Poor Knights in recent times, affecting blue maomao, demoiselles, trevally but to a minor extent pink maomao. At all depths the stalked kelp looks sick and 2 out of 10 sponges are sick or dying. Visibility still no more than 15m (measured).
• June: Reported by Anja Isaacson of Auckland: "thousands of kahawai washed up on Saturday night [5 June] - we saw kilometer's of dead carcasses in the high tide line. Over today, Sunday [6 June], thousands of yellow tail were washing up around 11:30am ... this stretched over many kilometers between Baylys and Glinks Gully ... local fishermen hypothesised that kahawai were chasing the yellow tail ...". Witnessed by fishermen and beachgoers. Photos below.
• Dec: ten tonnes of dead fish were hauled up by a trawler off Kawau Island, suggesting the sea bottom littered with dead fish for miles around (RT).
• Aug: NZ Fishing News: "Only 20 short years ago, Whakatane sportfishing Club had a thousand yellowfin tuna pass over their scales in a season. In 2010 their four-day Tuna Tournament did not produce a single weighable yellowfin!", "But on the positive side, more marlin ... than on any other day .. since 1962."
• 2011: the year began with unusually cold sea water and 8 weeks drought till mid December 2010, followed by a deluge and unsettled weather associated with the beginning of a new La Niña.
• Jan: hundreds of dead snapper on Coromandel Peninsula beaches, Waikawau Bay (NZH). Also 'carpets' of them in the water. DoC said the fish were starved of food.
• Jan: reports of blue maomao missing from Goat Island [1, VAR].
• Jan 29: former tropical cyclone Wilma rains out over Northland, causing massive damage. Huge coastal slips in Goat Island marine reserve may decrease water quality for years. [STUFF, slides,]
• Dec 6:the Pacific oyster industry has been compromised by the spread of the herpes virus which mainly kills spat.Sanford's oyster processing plant at Kaeo in Northland is to close with the loss of 66 jobs after a virus decimated young oysters destined for future harvests, Sanford managing director Eric Barratt said.
• 2012: A wet winter followed by a dry spring.
• Feb 22: The beaches of Waipu Cove became covered in rafts of red and green hairy algae which remained rotting on the beach and in local streams.[link]

f042026: (2004) the hardiest organism of all, pink paint is now under attack of a mysterious black rot, seen in three places from Leigh to Little Barrier. The photo shows how the rot progressed from the dark green patch to the light green one, through the white into the black margin, leaving dead pink paint behind. This is the latest symptom. f021807: (left photo) In 1983 black coral trees died in northern NZ. This must have been a 2.5m tall tree. Now it has snared a fishing line while magenta jewel anemones grow around its thickest parts. Demoiselles  and butterfly perch swimming past. This was the first clear symptom.

June 2010: a red blood blister underneath a kahawai's chin. Photo left: June 2010, the beach at Baylys Beach, Northland NZ, littered with dead kahawai (Arripis trutta) and yellowtail jackmackerel (Trachurus novaezelandiae)

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