Four times heavier than the whale shark brought ashore in Pakistan, a 27-tonne injured sperm whale has drifted ashore on the Belgian coast and died before it could be rescued.

A new law designed to protect New Zealand's seas won't ''serve'' in the event of an offshore oil spill disaster, critics say.

Water in Lake Horowhenua is so toxic that it could kill a small child, councillors have been told.

US scientists using satellite data have established a more accurate figure of the amount of annual sea level rise from melting glaciers and ice caps.

After more than two decades of drilling in Antarctica, scientists have reached a gigantic freshwater lake hidden under kilometres of ice for some 20 million years.

MICHELLE COOKE - © Fairfax NZ News

A young man rescued an exhausted and bloody orca after it was entangled in a cray pot.

As an oil company explores the Gisborne coast for oil, a new study has revealed the local council needs to do more to protect its marine environment.

Cost of the Rena clean-up sky-rockets to $130m - with nearly a quarter has been funded by the taxpayer.

Boaties are being warned to check their hulls for "weird, hitch-hiking" skeleton shrimp.

LATEST: Tonga's government has declared a storm warning as Cyclone Cyril looms over the horizon and threatens its northern islands.

We're in for increasingly extreme weather, punctuated by intense floods and devastating droughts, according to research into kauri tree rings.

A bird once thought to be extinct is breeding on islands in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf.

Salvors have removed 12 containers and up to 2.5 tonnes of debris from the Rena this week.

NZ scientists retrieve a creature from the depths that looks like a giant albino flea.

Government departments are considering New Zealand's options in light of the "real risk" of an extended delay in agreement on a new international climate change regime.

The Crown needs to move beyond dialogue with Maori toward proposals that better provide for their rights in natural resources, the Environment Ministry says.

Cool, windy weather dominated in parts of the country in January, depriving many Kiwis of the summer warmth.

Amazing images show how an iceberg the size of Manhattan is close to splitting from Antarctica.

A rare dolphin found dead in a Taranaki fisherman's set net has politicians, environmentalists and commercial fishermen seeking law changes.

A huge section of ice, estimated to weigh about 30 million tonnes, has broken off the Tasman Glacier.