A large plume has been rising from Whakaari/White Island as the volcano experiences "minor volcanic unrest", but experts say it's no cause for concern.
The Bay of Plenty volcano was involved in a fatal eruption in December 2019 killing 21 people.
Over the past week, White Island has appeared to display a higher level of activity but GNS Science has revealed the plume is just due to a change of weather.
"The volcano has not had any changes in activity," a spokesperson told Newshub.
"During fine weather conditions, this will generate moderate to large steam plumes above the island. These plumes can sometimes be mistaken for an increase in activity."
Geonet confirmed the plumes are common in "clear, calm conditions" which don't occur often in winter.
"Yesterday a drop in offshore wind, along with increased humidity made for a spectacular plume visible all afternoon."
Geonet's duty volcanologist Craig Miller said their monitoring of the volcano showed no significant changes.
"An observation flight this week shows temperatures remain high at around 540C in the active vent area. These have reduced from over 740C measured in February and indicate a slowly cooling active vent area."
Miller said a recent gas flight in mid-July showed moderate amounts of gas, similar to those measured between eruptive episodes over the last decade.
The level of seismic tremor has also remained relatively low, and recent rainfall ponds haven't encroached into hot vent areas.
"All observations over the past month indicate that the volcano remains in minor volcanic unrest and at Volcanic Alert Level 1."
The Bay of Plenty volcano is currently on Volcanic Alert Level 1 with minor potential hazards including steam eruptions, volcanic gases, earthquakes, landslides, and lahars.
But Miller warned that eruptions can occur at any level with little to no warning.
