Open Bay Islands

The Open Bay Islands are located in South Westland, off the south-west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. They consist of two main islands, Taumaka and Popotai, plus several smaller islets and rocks. They lie approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) offshore from the Okuru River mouth, near Haast, and are owned by the West Coast branch Māori iwi Ngai Tahu known as Poutini Ngai Tahu.

Open Bay Islands
Maori:
Geography
LocationWestland District
Coordinates43°52′S 168°53′E
Total islands2
Highest elevation30 m (100 ft)
Administration
Demographics
Population(?)

Taumaka is the larger island (14.7 ha or 36 acres, 660 m or 722 yd long and 260 m or 284 yd wide reaching a plateau 21 m or 69 ft above sea level) and is separated from Popotai (2.2 ha or 5.4 acres, 400 m or 437 yd long and 200 m or 219 yd wide) by a narrow channel.[1][2][3]

Wildlife

The Open Bay Islands support several endemic species, including a terrestrial leech (Hirudobdella antipodum),[1][2] an undescribed gecko species (aff. Hoplodactylus granulatus),[4] and a skink (Oligosoma taumakae). In 2010 the skink was discovered on the Barn Islands, two rock stacks near Haast,[3] as well as a terrestrial leech likely to be Hirudobdella antipodum; the gecko, however, has only ever been recorded from Taumaka Island, and only 15 have been seen.[5]

Taumaka Island has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it is a breeding site for Fiordland penguins.[6] New Zealand fur seals currently numbering in the thousands[7] have recolonized the islands following the end of commercial sealing.[8][9][10] Hector's dolphins[11] and bottlenose dolphins (occasional) are present at Jackson Bay, and migratory southern right and humpback whales are also present.[12] Great white sharks have also been confirmed in the area.[13]

Wekas

Although introduced mammals are not known ever to have reached the Open Bay Islands, the introduction of weka (a native flightless rail, Gallirallus australis) from the South Island in the early 1900s has had an adverse impact on the flora and fauna of the islands.[1][2][14][15] The Department of Conservation have recommended to the Minister of Conservation that weka should be removed from the islands. The Trust which governs the island has agreed to removal on the condition that they are not killed.[16]

Castaways

The sealer Active, brought a ten-man sealing gang from Sydney to the islands. The men had very basic provisions: some food, salt, an axe, an adze, and a cooper's drawing knife. The ship, which left the islands on 16 February 1810, was not seen again, and the sealing gang was assumed to have been lost with the ship. After years of considerable hardship, they finally saw a ship, the Governor Bligh, and attracted its attention. They were picked up and arrived back in Sydney on 15 December 1813.[17][18]

The men's fate has been turned into a song, Davy Low'ston, that tells their ordeal.[19][20]

See also

References
  1. Miller, Craig (September 1997). "Occurrence and ecology of the Open Bay Islands leech, Hirudobdella antipodium" (PDF). Science for Conservation. Department of Conservation. 57. ISSN 1173-2946.
  2. Miller, Craig (December 1999). "Conservation of the Open Bay Islands' leech, Hirudobdella antipodum" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 29 (4): 301–306. doi:10.1080/03014223.1999.9517599. ISSN 1175-8899.
  3. Lettink, M.; Hopkins, G.; Wilson, R.I. (2013). "A significant range extension and sanctuary for the rare Open Bay Island skink (Oligosoma taumakae)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 40 (2): 160–165. doi:10.1080/03014223.2012.707661. ISSN 0301-4223.
  4. Hitchmough, R., Bull, L. and Cromarty, P. (compilers) (2007) "New Zealand Threat Classification System lists— 2005", Dept of Conservation, Wellington.
  5. Wilson, Kerry-Jayne (2013). West Coast Walking: a naturalist's guide. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. p. 325. ISBN 9781927145425.
  6. BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Taumaka Island, Open Bay Islands. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2012-02-17.
  7. http://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/television/321912/close-coast
  8. http://docs.niwa.co.nz/library/public/NZAEBR72.pdf
  9. http://www.ryanphotographic.com/pinnipedia.htm
  10. http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/JonTohu-fig-JonTohu233a.html
  11. http://www.nabis.govt.nz/LineageDocuments/Annual%20distribution%20of%20Hector's%20dolphin%20Lineage.pdf
  12. http://www.marinenz.org.nz/documents/west-coast-marine-reserves-application-document.pdf
  13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZQ-6JNKE4c
  14. Stirling, I. & Johns, P.M. (1969) "Notes on the bird fauna of Open Bay islands", Notornis 16(121-125).
  15. Burrows, C.J. (1972) "The flora and vegetation of Open Bay Islands", Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 2 (15-42).
  16. Glass, Amy (23 July 2010). "Colony of inbred wekas may have a lucky escape". The Press. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  17. Fyfe, Frank (1970). "The story of David Lowston, a pre-colonial NZ song". Journal of New Zealand Folklore. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  18. Smith, Ian W.G. (June 2002). "The New Zealand Sealing Industry" (PDF). Department of Conservation. pp. 25, 32. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  19. McSaveney, Eileen (25 September 2011). "Nearshore islands". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  20. Martin Carthy's version of Davy Low'ston on YouTube

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