Sinclair Head / Te Rimurapa

Sinclair Head (Te Rimurapa) is a major promontory on the south coast of New Zealand's North Island. It lies 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) to the west of the entrance to Wellington Harbour, and a similar distance to the east of Cape Terawhiti.

The headland is named for Sir George Sinclair, a director of the New Zealand Company. The Māori name literally means "the search for seaweed".[1]

Sinclair Head is home to a non-breeding colony of New Zealand fur seals, with resident seal numbers ranging from over 300 in winter to about 50 in summer when only the non-breeding males stay behind.[2] The seal haul-out is also known as the Red Rocks seal colony, named after an area of red coloured rocks immediately east of the headland.[3]

References
  1. Reed, A.W. (1975). Place names of New Zealand. Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed. p. 380.
  2. Ged Cann (30 July 2017). "CuriousCity: The large colony of fur seals on Wellington's back doorstep". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  3. "Red Rocks - Wellington region". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 26 November 2018.


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