Vent Sites:
MacEwans Bight (= McEwans Bay)
Sulphur Bay (= Sulfur Bight)
Notes on Vent Field Description:
in Bay of Plenty, northern New Zealand; Rotorua-Taupo graben; position approximate for McEwans Bay at 4-12 m in the SE of the island; Sulphur Bay in the SW of Whale Island at 6-13 m at approximately 37° 51.5'S 176° 57.8'E; another site is present off the middle of the S coast at 42 m at approximately 37° 51.9"N 136° 58.2"E
Notes Relevant to Biology:
see Kamenev et al. (1993)
Year and How Discovered (if active, visual confirmation is listed first):
1990 or earlier, likely by SCUBA
Discovery References (text):
(bubbles only) Duncan and Pantin (1969) EVIDENCE FOR SUBMARINE GEOTHERMAL ACTIVITY IN THE BAY OF PLENTY. N.Z. Jl mar. Freshwat. Res. 3: 602-6.
Other References (text):
Kamenev, G.M., et al., (1993) Composition and distribution of macro- and meiobenthos around sublittoral hydrothermal vents in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. N.Z. J. Mar. Freshwater Res. 27, 407-418.
Tarasov (2006) Effects of shallow-water hydrothermal venting on biological communities of coastal marine ecosystems of the western Pacific. Advances in Marine Biology 50: 267-421.