Whale Island, New Zealand
Encyclopedia
Moutohora Island or Whale Island (Moutohorā in Māori) is a small uninhabited island located off the Bay of Plenty
coast of New Zealand
's North Island
, about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north of the town of Whakatane
. The 1.43 km² (0.552126086787325 sq mi) island is a remnant of a complex volcano
which has eroded, leaving two peaks. This is still an area of volcanic activity and there are hot springs on the island in Sulphur Valley, McEwans Bay, and Sulphur Bay.
is increasingly used in English, although the official name of the island currently omits it.
Numerous archaeological sites of both Māori and Europe
an origin have been recorded, including an extensive pa
(fortified earthworks) site on Pa Hill and a number of house terraces and garden sites, midden
s (food refuse dumps), stone tool manufacture areas and stone walls. After permanent Maori occupation ceased in the early nineteenth century, Ngāti Awa and Tūhoe continued to visit the island for sea food and mutton bird
s and to collect stones for hāngi
(underground ovens).
The first European occupation came in the 1830s with an unsuccessful attempt to establish a shore-based whaling
station. The venture failed without a single whale
being captured. Forty years later came attempts to make money from sulphur. It was extracted and sold to a refinery in Auckland
over a number of years but was of poor quality, and the venture was abandoned in 1895. The next phase of industrial activity came in 1915, when quarrying provided rock for the construction of the Whakatane
harbour wall. A total of 26000 t (25,589 LT; 28,660 ST) of rock was removed over five years.
, māhoe
, kānuka, bracken
and grassland.
There are 190 native and 110 introduced plant species. The island is now completely free of the goat
s, rat
s, cat
s and rabbit
s which previously devastated native plants and animals. The most significant feature of Moutohorā's current fauna is the breeding colony of grey-faced petrels
. Sooty shearwater
s, little blue penguin
s, the threatened New Zealand dotterel
and variable oystercatcher
s also breed on the island. Threatened species which are occasional visitors are the Caspian tern
, the North Island kaka
and New Zealand falcon
. Other species present include common forest birds, captive-bred red crowned parakeets, three lizard
species and fur seal
s.
In March 1999 local Ngati Awa and the New Zealand Department of Conservation
joined forces to see the fulfillment of a dream. Forty North Island saddleback
(tieke) were transferred from Cuvier Island
(Repanga), off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula
, to Moutohorā.
This relocation followed the traditional flight made centuries ago when the Mataatua waka (canoe)
was accompanied by two tieke from Repanga to Whakatane. This flight followed the drowning of the twin sons of Muriwai, sister of Toroa, the captain of the waka. The two tieke settled briefly on Moutohorā before returning to Cuvier Island.
team, the Moutohora Macaws, that operates within the fictional Harry Potter universe
. The team players wear robes of red, yellow and blue.
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty , often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name...
coast 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 North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
, about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north of the town of Whakatane
Whakatane
Whakatane is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region, in the North Island of New Zealand, and is the seat of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Whakatane is 90 km east of Tauranga and 89 km north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatane River.The town has a population of , with...
. The 1.43 km² (0.552126086787325 sq mi) island is a remnant of a complex volcano
Complex volcano
A complex volcano, also called a compound volcano, is a volcano with more than one feature. They form because changes of their eruptive characteristics or the location of multiple vents in an area...
which has eroded, leaving two peaks. This is still an area of volcanic activity and there are hot springs on the island in Sulphur Valley, McEwans Bay, and Sulphur Bay.
Name
The Māori name, Moutohorā, is a contracted form of Motutohorā, meaning "Whale Island". The spelling with the macronMacron
A macron, from the Greek , meaning "long", is a diacritic placed above a vowel . It was originally used to mark a long or heavy syllable in Greco-Roman metrics, but now marks a long vowel...
is increasingly used in English, although the official name of the island currently omits it.
History
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an origin have been recorded, including an extensive pa
Pa (Maori)
The word pā can refer to any Māori village or settlement, but in traditional use it referred to hillforts fortified with palisades and defensive terraces and also to fortified villages. They first came into being about 1450. They are located mainly in the North Island north of lake Taupo...
(fortified earthworks) site on Pa Hill and a number of house terraces and garden sites, midden
Midden
A midden, is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, vermin, shells, sherds, lithics , and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation...
s (food refuse dumps), stone tool manufacture areas and stone walls. After permanent Maori occupation ceased in the early nineteenth century, Ngāti Awa and Tūhoe continued to visit the island for sea food and mutton bird
Sooty Shearwater
The Sooty Shearwater is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. In New Zealand it is also known by its Māori name tītī and as "muttonbird", like its relatives the Wedge-tailed Shearwater and the Australian Short-tailed Shearwater The Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus) is...
s and to collect stones for hāngi
Hangi
Hāngi is a traditional New Zealand Māori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven still used for special occasions.To "lay a hāngi" or "put down a hāngi" involves digging a pit in the ground, heating stones in the pit with a large fire, placing baskets of food on top of the...
(underground ovens).
The first European occupation came in the 1830s with an unsuccessful attempt to establish a shore-based whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
station. The venture failed without a single whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
being captured. Forty years later came attempts to make money from sulphur. It was extracted and sold to a refinery in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
over a number of years but was of poor quality, and the venture was abandoned in 1895. The next phase of industrial activity came in 1915, when quarrying provided rock for the construction of the Whakatane
Whakatane
Whakatane is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region, in the North Island of New Zealand, and is the seat of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Whakatane is 90 km east of Tauranga and 89 km north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatane River.The town has a population of , with...
harbour wall. A total of 26000 t (25,589 LT; 28,660 ST) of rock was removed over five years.
Ecology
In 1965 Moutohorā was declared a wildlife refuge and the island was bought by the Crown in 1984. Once the goats which had been introduced to the island were eradicated, a planting programme began and 12,000 plants covering 45 species are now established. Today Moutohorā is covered with a mosaic of pōhutukawaPohutukawa
The Pōhutukawa is a coastal evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display of red flowers made up of a mass of stamens. The Pōhutukawa is one of twelve Metrosideros species endemic to New Zealand...
, māhoe
Melicytus ramiflorus
Melicytus ramiflorus is a small tree of the family Violaceae endemic to New Zealand.It grows up to 10 metres high with a trunk up to 60 cm in diameter, it has smooth, whitish bark and brittle twigs...
, kānuka, bracken
Pteridium esculentum
Pteridium esculentum, commonly known as Austral bracken or simply bracken, is a species of the bracken genus native to a number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere....
and grassland.
There are 190 native and 110 introduced plant species. The island is now completely free of the goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
s, rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s, cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s and rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s which previously devastated native plants and animals. The most significant feature of Moutohorā's current fauna is the breeding colony of grey-faced petrels
Great-winged Petrel
The Great-winged Petrel or Grey-faced Petrel, Pterodroma macroptera, is a petrel. In New Zealand it is also known by its Māori name oi and as a muttonbird.- Taxonomy :...
. Sooty shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
The Sooty Shearwater is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. In New Zealand it is also known by its Māori name tītī and as "muttonbird", like its relatives the Wedge-tailed Shearwater and the Australian Short-tailed Shearwater The Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus) is...
s, little blue penguin
Little Penguin
The Little Penguin is the smallest species of penguin. The penguin, which usually grows to an average of in height and in length , is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand, with possible records from Chile.Apart from Little Penguins, they have several common names...
s, the threatened New Zealand dotterel
New Zealand Dotterel
The New Zealand Dotterel, Red-breasted Plover, or New Zealand Plover is an endangered species found only in certain areas of New Zealand. Its Māori names include Tūturiwhatu, Pukunui, and Kūkuruatu...
and variable oystercatcher
Oystercatcher
The oystercatchers are a group of waders; they form the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, Haematopus. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia...
s also breed on the island. Threatened species which are occasional visitors are the Caspian tern
Caspian Tern
The Caspian Tern is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no subspecies accepted either...
, the North Island kaka
Kaka
The New Zealand Kaka, also known as Kākā, is a New Zealand parrot endemic to the native forests of New Zealand.-Description:...
and New Zealand falcon
Karearea
The New Zealand Falcon or Kārearea, Falco novaeseelandiae, is New Zealand's only endemic falcon and the only remaining bird of prey endemic to New Zealand. Other common names for the bird are Bush Hawk and Sparrow Hawk...
. Other species present include common forest birds, captive-bred red crowned parakeets, three lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
species and fur seal
New Zealand Fur Seal
The Australian fur seal , or New Zealand fur seal or southern fur seal, is a species of fur seal found around the south coast of Australia, the coast of the South Island of New Zealand, and some of the small islands to the south and east of there...
s.
In March 1999 local Ngati Awa and the New Zealand Department of Conservation
New Zealand Department of Conservation
The Department of Conservation , commonly known by its acronym, "DOC", is the state sector organisation which deals with the conservation of New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage...
joined forces to see the fulfillment of a dream. Forty North Island saddleback
Tieke
The Saddleback or Tieke is a previously rare and endangered New Zealand bird of the family Callaeidae. It is glossy black with a chestnut saddle. Its taxonomic family is also known as that of the "wattlebirds" and includes the two subspecies of the Kokako as well as the extinct Huia...
(tieke) were transferred from Cuvier Island
Cuvier Island
Cuvier Island is a small island off the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the seaward end of the Colville Channel, north of the Mercury Islands and approximately south-east of Great Barrier Island...
(Repanga), off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula
Coromandel Peninsula
The Coromandel Peninsula lies in the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Waikato Region and Thames-Coromandel District and extends 85 kilometres north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier to protect the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west...
, to Moutohorā.
This relocation followed the traditional flight made centuries ago when the Mataatua waka (canoe)
Waka (canoe)
Waka are Māori watercraft, usually canoes ranging in size from small, unornamented canoes used for fishing and river travel, to large decorated war canoes up to long...
was accompanied by two tieke from Repanga to Whakatane. This flight followed the drowning of the twin sons of Muriwai, sister of Toroa, the captain of the waka. The two tieke settled briefly on Moutohorā before returning to Cuvier Island.
Access
Public access to Moutohorā is restricted to permit holders and approved tour parties and school groups. Permits must be obtained from the Department of Conservation office in Whakatane and during periods of high fire danger all access may be declined. Coastguard Whakatane holds a permit to conduct guided walks on each Sunday from the beginning of January until the end of March. The proceeds from the guided walks are a valuable contribution to the Coastguards funds.Use in popular culture
Moutohorā is the home of a professional QuidditchQuidditch
Quidditch is a fictional sport developed by British author J. K. Rowling for the Harry Potter series of novels. It is described as an extremely rough, but very popular, semi-contact sport, played by wizards and witches around the world...
team, the Moutohora Macaws, that operates within the fictional Harry Potter universe
Harry Potter universe
The fictional universe of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of fantasy novels comprises two separate and distinct societies: the wizarding world and the Muggle world...
. The team players wear robes of red, yellow and blue.