With support nearing 50,000 signatures, Swim4TheOcean is closing in on a powerful finish.
76km to Go – A Big Day
By Live Ocean
30 March '26
Read time: 3 min
Article Summary
Main Points
Despite ongoing jellyfish stings and the challenges of this remote coastline, he continues to build momentum in the final push.
Jono Ridler has pushed closer to Wellington, with 76km now remaining in his Swim4TheOcean mission.
After departing Tora, where the team have had strong support from local commercial fishers The Tora Collective, Jono and the team navigated this remote stretch of coastline to continue the southern push.
He entered the water at 10am for a seven-hour swim, taking advantage of favourable conditions with a following swell and wind. Despite water temperatures sitting between 15 and 15.5 degrees, Jono made strong progress throughout the session and clocked 19.3km.
Reflecting on the longer effort, Jono said he was “encouraged” by how his body handled the extended time in the water, a positive sign as the team looks to stack longer swim days in the final push toward Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.
Jellyfish continue to be a defining feature of this section of the journey, including the barbed-wire variety encountered in recent days. Jono worked to navigate through them while managing the itch of old stings and multiple new stings. He also encountered a dead seal, a first for the swim, quickly moving away from the area to avoid attracting what he described as “other interested parties.”
Attempts to land at White Rock were unsuccessful, with the Stabi X returning to Tora for the night while the IRB remained positioned at White Rock. The team is now preparing for a significant southerly swell forecast in the coming days, which may impact progress.
With 76km to go, the finish line is drawing closer, but conditions along this exposed coastline remain dynamic.
🗓️ Earliest projected arrival: Thursday 2 April
📍 Finish: Central Wellington waterfront (exact location TBC)
From there, Jono will walk to Parliament to deliver the Swim4TheOcean call to decision makers – a message backed by a growing wave of public support to end bottom trawling. More than 48,400 people have now signed the call for action.
Follow Jono’s progress on the live tracker and add your signature to the call to end bottom trawling at Swim4TheOcean.
Projected distance to go: 76.69km
Total distance covered: 1289.43
Swim at a glance – 29 March
Swim 1
Time: 7 hours 1 min
Distance: 19.03km
Average speed: 2.50km/h
Join The Call To End Bottom Trawling
New Zealand is still bottom trawling seamounts in our own waters, and the only nation still bottom trawling seamounts in the South Pacific high seas.
It’s time to stop being an outlier and protect the ocean’s most vital habitats.
We’re calling on the New Zealand Government to end bottom trawling on all seamounts – at home and in the high seas by the end of 2027 – and to activate a quick transition away from bottom trawling entirely.
We are a nation of innovators and ocean people.
It’s time to do the right thing.
For the ocean. For our future.
Add your name to the
84,920 others calling for an end to bottom trawling!
84,920 others calling for an end to bottom trawling!
Thank you for getting behind Swim4TheOcean’s ambition for a healthy ocean and supporting our call for an end to bottom trawling!
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