Kaikoura

Off the shore of New Zealand lies a maze of mystery: Kaikoura Canyon, a scarcely explored system of deep-sea trenches. This rich ecosystem is home to one of the sea’s last great mysteries—the giant squid, a creature never observed in its habitat until late 2005. In 1997 the Kaikoura Web site paired with the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institution, along with scientists from around the world, to search for this elusive sea creature alive in its habitat. Visitors followed the crew live from the field on their two-week expedition. The site’s rich resources about the canyon and its creatures are still available online. Traditional “live” Web sites blend dispatches with an archive of resources developed off site, but Kaikoura was created entirely on location by a team of content and design correspondents. Brad Johnson was “on assignment” in New Zealand with National Geographic magazine writer Tom Allen. For two weeks they transmitted their experiences to Web audiences, designing a site that revolved around the expedition’s key players—the crew, canyon, and its creatures. The site is media-rich with video, audio bites, QTVR, and 3-D renderings that communicate what it’s really like to be on assignment.