Curio Bay
Encyclopedia
Located near the southern end
of New Zealand
's South Island
, Curio Bay is a coast
al embayment best known as the site of a petrified forest
some 180 million years old. It also hosts a yellow-eyed penguin
colony, arguably the rarest of penguin species, with approximately 1600 breeding pairs in the extant population. The area is home to the endemic Hector's Dolphin
, and Southern Right Whale
s have also been observed offshore. Curio Bay is one of the major attractions in the Catlins
.
The now petrified logs, from ancient conifers closely related to modern Kauri and Norfolk Pine, were buried by ancient volcanic mud flows and gradually replaced by silica to produce the fossil
s now exposed by the sea.
Slope Point
Slope Point is the southernmost point of the South Island of New Zealand.Slope Point lies just south of the small settlements of Waikawa and Haldane, near the southwestern edge of the Catlins and Toetoes Bay and 70 km east of Invercargill....
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
, Curio Bay is a coast
Coast
A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
al embayment best known as the site of a petrified forest
Petrified wood
Petrified wood is the name given to a special type of fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. It is the result of a tree having turned completely into stone by the process of permineralization...
some 180 million years old. It also hosts a yellow-eyed penguin
Yellow-eyed Penguin
The Yellow-eyed Penguin or Hoiho is a penguin native to New Zealand. Previously thought closely related to the Little Penguin , molecular research has shown it more closely related to penguins of the genus Eudyptes...
colony, arguably the rarest of penguin species, with approximately 1600 breeding pairs in the extant population. The area is home to the endemic Hector's Dolphin
Hector's Dolphin
Hector's dolphin is the best-known of the four dolphins in the genus Cephalorhynchus and is found only in New Zealand. At about 1.4 m in length, it is one of the smallest cetaceans....
, and Southern Right Whale
Southern Right Whale
The southern right whale is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus Eubalaena. Like other right whales, the southern right whale is readily distinguished from others by the callosities on its head, a broad back without a dorsal fin, and a long arching...
s have also been observed offshore. Curio Bay is one of the major attractions in the Catlins
The Catlins
The Catlins comprises an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southland regions...
.
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s now exposed by the sea.