"Located between New Zealand’s North Island and Tonga, the 15 islands and rocks of the Kermadecs are remote and rarely visited. From these islands, to the waters surrounding them, and the deep trench below, the Kermadecs is a place for exploration and discovery.
Straddling both tropical and temperate climates, the Kermadec region is home towhales and dolphins,sea birds,fish and deep sea marine life, and has some of the most geologically active and biologically unusual features on the planet.
The islands are part of the longest underwater volcanic arc on the planet. Mountain peaks here often sit just below the ocean surface, making for a wondrous world where volcanic landforms, hydrothermal vents, and stunning underwater features are still being discovered. At 10,000 meters (about six miles), the deepest ocean trench in the Southern Hemisphere and the second deepest on the planet—the Kermadec-Tonga Trench—is found here.
The Kermadec region is significant to New Zealand and the world. It provides an important safe haven for threatened species, and an underwater frontier that scientists are only now beginning to explore."
The New Zealand government created a no-take marine reserve around the Kermadec Islands in 1990, and now WWF is working with the Pew to secure additional protection for the trench surrounding the islands.
