One forgotten lake feature is the semi-mythical sunken totara forest of Lake Rotomahana. In 2016 when a scuba team first dove the lake, they found no evidence of a sunken forest or trees, as reported by Fitzgerald off Moura. While there were forests over the pre-eruption Mt Tarawera, Totara trees were scattered and only recorded over the western and southern mountain flanks. Given Totara tree groves could hardly appear in the eruption craters; it appears likely any sunken forest lies in the north-east corner of the new lake.