A massive "warm blob" of water that's formed off the eastern coast of New Zealand will not affect Kiwis, says an expert.
The warm area of water has produced a striking red and yellow image against a map of sea temperatures.
The length of the warm water is about the size of either New Zealand's North or South Island and its centre is five or six degrees warmer than the area's normal ocean temperature.
But James Renwick, a professor of physical geography at Victoria University of Wellington, has revealed the "blob" will be downstream of Aotearoa and "wouldn't really be having much effect on us at all".
Renwick said there is no dramatic cause for the warm spot.
"Mostly, the surface of the ocean responds to what the atmosphere is doing, so if you get a long enough period of calm clear skies, that can warm up the ocean surface quite dramatically."
The warm spot is "just one of the things that happens quite naturally", he said.
Despite the warm temperature of the blob, Renwick said this is not a product of climate change.
"The oceans have warmed up, there's a small component of climate change in everything but most of this warming is natural variability."
He goes on to say "it's not 'hot water' by any means, it's mild, but it's a lot warmer than average".
Renwick expects the water to be shallow as the area is too large and warm to be extremely deep.
The "warm blob" is currently travelling to South America, and will likely be disappearing soon.
