A community group is reporting the city's lowest rat numbers yet, since began monitoring began seven years ago.

A "flash-flood" has carved a path of destruction through a rural settlement in Motueka Valley, with one man blaming slash, saying "thousands of tonnes of logs and silt" came down.

Antarctica's harsh otherworldly climate gives a glimpse into the simple microscopic communities that dominated Earth for much of its history, and insights into how life survived the global ice age.

The image of the long-haired, long-limbed young woman in a bikini swimming above an outsized great white shark is not a new one.