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Whangārei Harbour
Whangārei Harbour is a large harbour on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The harbour stretches from Whangārei City, and the termination of the Hātea River, south east around the Onerahi peninsula and out to the Pacific Ocean at Whangārei Heads. Its Māori-language name (given by the ''Ngāti Wai'' ''iwi'' (tribe)) is ''Whangārei-te-rerenga-parāoa'', meaning "the place where whales gather". Another traditional name for this area is ''Whangarei-o-te-tohorā'' – "waiting for the breastbone of whales". History left, The Marsden Point Oil Refinery at the entrance of Whangārei Harbour Many early settlers and Maori used the harbour as a form of transport, and this played a large role in the establishment of Whangārei, and many of the industries in the area. These include Portland Cement Works, Marsden Point Oil Refinery and for the extraction of coal from Kamo. From 1911–1933 the Onerahi Branch Railway crossed the upper reaches of the harbour to p ...
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Mount Manaia
Mount Manaia is a dominant landmark approximately 30 kilometres southeast of Whangārei city on the Whangārei Heads peninsula. Standing 420 metres, the summit offers outstanding views of the Marsden Point Oil Refinery, Bream Bay and the Hauraki Gulf to the south, Whangārei Harbour to the west and the Poor Knights Islands and Northland coast to the north. Mt Manaia - along with Mt Lion, Bream Head and the Hen and Chicken Islands, are the scattered remnants of andesite, volcanic intusions that erupted with force 16 to 22 million years ago during the early Miocene. They are part of a stratovolcano that extended to the Hen and Chickens. Its jagged outline is similar to that of its neighbours and other volcanic outcrops in Northland that erupted in a similar period. Today blanketed by native bush, Manaia's jagged peaks and steep bluffs are protected within a Department of Conservation reserve which features a well-maintained 1½ hour track to the summit. Photo ...
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Marine Reserve
A marine reserve is a type of marine protected area (MPA). An MPA is a section of the ocean where a government has placed limits on human activity. A marine reserve is a marine protected area in which removing or destroying natural or cultural resources is prohibited, marine reserves may also be "no-take MPAs,” which strictly forbid all extractive activities, such as fishing and kelp harvesting.. As of 2007 less than 1% of the world's oceans had been set aside in marine reserves. Benefits include increases in the diversity, density, biomass, body size and reproductive potential of fishery and other species within their boundaries. As of 2010, scientists had studied more than 150 marine reserves in at least 61 countries and monitored biological changes inside the reserves. The number of species in each study ranged from 1 to 250 and the reserves ranged in size from 0.006 to 800 square kilometers (0.002 to 310 square miles). In 2014, the World Parks Association adopted a target ...
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Baleen Whale
Baleen whales (systematic name Mysticeti), also known as whalebone whales, are a parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals of the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises) which use keratinaceous baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their mouths to sieve planktonic creatures from the water. Mysticeti comprises the families Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales), Balaenopteridae (rorquals and the gray whale), and Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale). There are currently 16 species of baleen whales. While cetaceans were historically thought to have descended from mesonychids, molecular evidence instead supports them as a clade of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla). Baleen whales split from toothed whales (Odontoceti) around 34 million years ago. Baleen whales range in size from the and pygmy right whale to the and blue whale, the largest known animal to have ever existed. They are sexually dimorphic. Baleen whales can have streamlined or large bodies, depending on th ...
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Bryde's Whale
Bryde's whale ( Brooder's), or the Bryde's whale complex, putatively comprises three species of rorqual and maybe four. The "complex" means the number and classification remains unclear because of a lack of definitive information and research. The common Bryde's whale (''Balaenoptera brydei'', Olsen, 1913) is a larger form that occurs worldwide in warm temperate and tropical waters, and the Sittang or Eden's whale (''Balaenoptera edeni'', Anderson, 1879) is a smaller form that may be restricted to the Indo-Pacific. Also, a smaller, coastal form of ''B. brydei'' is found off southern Africa, and perhaps another form in the Indo-Pacific differs in skull morphology, tentatively referred to as the Indo-Pacific Bryde's whale. The recently described Omura's whale (''B. omurai'', Wada et al. 2003), was formerly thought to be a pygmy form of Bryde's, but is now recognized as a distinct species. Rice's whale (''B. ricei''), which makes its home solely in the Gulf of Mexico, was once co ...
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Humpback Whale
The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and tubercles on its head. It is known for breaching and other distinctive surface behaviors, making it popular with whale watchers. Males produce a complex song typically lasting 4 to 33 minutes. Found in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to each year. They feed in polar waters and migrate to tropical or subtropical waters to breed and give birth. Their diet consists mostly of krill and small fish, and they use bubbles to catch prey. They are promiscuous breeders, with both sexes having multiple partners. Orcas are the main natural predators of humpback whales. Like other large whales, the humpback was a target for the whaling industry. ...
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Southern Right Whale
The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20° and 60° south. In 2009 the global population was estimated to be approximately 13,600. Taxonomy Right whales were first classified in the genus ''Balaena'' in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, who at the time considered all right whales (including the bowhead) to be a single species. In the 19th and 20th centuries the family Balaenidae was the subject of great taxonometric debate. Authorities have repeatedly recategorised the three populations of right whale plus the bowhead whale, as one, two, three or four species, either in a single genus or in two separate genera. In the early whaling days, they were all thought to be a single species, ''Balaena mysticetus''. The southern right whale was initially described as ''Balaena australis'' by Des ...
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Mangapai River
The Mangapai River is a river of the Northland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is perhaps better described as a silty arm of Whangarei Harbour, located due south of Whangarei. Its average width is some , but the silty nature of its course means that the stream itself is far narrower. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "good stream" for ''Mangapai''. See also *List of rivers of New Zealand This is a list of all waterways named as rivers in New Zealand. A * Aan River * Acheron River (Canterbury) * Acheron River (Marlborough) * Ada River * Adams River * Ahaura River * Ahuriri River * Ahuroa River * Akatarawa River * Ākitio R ... References Whangarei District Rivers of the Northland Region Rivers of New Zealand {{Northland-river-stub ...
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Northland Port
Northport is a commercial sea port at Marsden Point, at the entrance to the Whangarei Harbour in Northland, New Zealand, located next to the Marsden Point Oil Refinery. It is a naturally deep-water port, with a maximum depth of 14.5 metres. It is the northernmost multi-purpose port in New Zealand, and the closest port to the majority of New Zealand's international markets. It is about 100 km north of the Auckland Northern Motorway, and around 75 nautical miles north of the Port of Auckland. History The Northland Harbour Board first proposed a container port at Marsden Point in the 1960s, at which time Whangarei was served by Port Whangarei, in the upper harbour near the city. The Northland Port Corporation was formed in 1988 to take over the commercial port assets of the Northland Harbour Board, and it entered a joint venture with Port of Tauranga Ltd in 2000 to establish Northport Limited. Construction of the port at Marsden Point started in October 2000 and the firs ...
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Matakohe Island
Motu Matakohe, also known as Matakohe or Limestone Island, is a 37 ha (100 acre) island in the upper reaches of Whangarei Harbour, just off Onerahi, a seaside suburb of the city of Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand. Used for farming and industry for many years, the island is an example of ecological island restoration by a volunteer community group. History The earliest known inhabitants of the island were Ngaitahuhu Māori who occupied it in the early 18th century. They were dispossessed and driven out of the Whangarei area in the mid 18th century by Ngāpuhi Māori led by Te Ponaharakeke.Matakohe / Limestone Island The first European house on the island was built in 1832, though later destroyed. In 1848 the island was leased from the Parawhau hapū by Robert Carruth and Mathew Whitelaw who established a limeworks there, using the local limestone. In 1865 the island was purchased by Henry Walton from Te Tirarau and the Parawahau chiefs. The limeworks were extended a ...
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Sand Bar
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It often refers to those submerged ridges, banks, or bars that rise near enough to the surface of a body of water as to constitute a danger to navigation. Shoals are also known as sandbanks, sandbars, or gravelbars. Two or more shoals that are either separated by shared troughs or interconnected by past or present sedimentary and hydrographic processes are referred to as a shoal complex.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl Jr., and J.A. Jackson, eds. (2005) ''Glossary of Geology'' (5th ed.). Alexandria, Virginia, American Geological Institute. 779 pp. The term ''shoal'' is also used in a number of ways that can be either similar or quite different from how it is used in geologic, geomorphic, and oceanographic literature. Sometimes, this term refers ...
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Mud Flats
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal flat ecosystems are as extensive globally as mangroves, covering at least of the Earth's surface. / They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries; they are also seen in freshwater lakes and salty lakes (or inland seas) alike, wherein many rivers and creeks end. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of estuarine silts, clays and aquatic animal detritus. Most of the sediment within a mudflat is within the intertidal zone, and thus the flat is submerged and exposed approximately twice daily. A recent global remote sensing analysis estimated that approximately 50% of the global extent of tidal flats occurs within eight countries (Indonesia, China, Australia ...
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Railway Bridge Over The Hatea River At Port Whangarei, 1923
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prepared flat surface, rail vehicles (rolling stock) are directionally guided by the tracks on which they run. Tracks usually consist of steel rails, installed on sleepers (ties) set in ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels, moves. Other variations are also possible, such as "slab track", in which the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in a rail transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, so passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains. The operation is carried out by a railway company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer facili ...
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