Rena alters dive event | Bay of Plenty Entertainment | Events, Movies and TV Guide for Bay of Plenty

The grounding of the Rena has added a new dimension to this weekend's relaunching of a classic dive conference and exhibition in Tauranga.

Baycourt was transformed for Oceanz 2011, which attracted strong ticket sales.

Organiser Shane Wasik said the Rena disaster had made Oceanz more relevant than ever. Maritime New Zealand was mounting a display at Baycourt on the grounded ship and the University of Waikato's Coastal Sciences chairman Professor Chris Battershill will talk tomorrow about monitoring the damage caused to the marine environment by the Rena.

"There will even be a kids' fun Rena challenge where they have to recover 'containers' from the bottom of a pool."

Speakers are coming from all over New Zealand and Australia for the event, with doors opening at 9am today.

"Tauranga has never seen so many marine experts at one time," Mr Wasik said.

One of the guest speakers will be controversial environmentalist Pete Bethune who spent weeks in a Japanese jail after his boat was run over by a whaling ship.

The programme is detailed on www.oceanzdiveconference.com.