The Open Bay Islands are located in South Westland, off the south-west coast of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. They consist of two main islands, Taumaka and Popotai, plus several smaller islets and rocks. They lie approximately offshore from the

Okuru River The Okuru River is located on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It flows northwest for 45 kilometres from its headwaters in the Southern Alps to the west of the Haast Pass to the Tasman Sea at the northern end of Jackson Bay, 12 k ...

mouth, near Haast, and are owned by the West Coast branch

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

Ngāi Tahu known as Poutini Ngāi Tahu. Taumaka is the larger island (, long and wide reaching a plateau above sea level) and is separated from Popotai (, long and wide) by a narrow channel.

Wildlife

The Open Bay Islands support several endemic species, including a terrestrial leech ('' Hirudobdella antipodum''), an undescribed gecko species (''aff. Hoplodactylus granulatus''), and a skink ('' Oligosoma taumakae)''. In 2010 the skink was discovered on the Barn Islands, two rock stacks near Haast, 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. Taumaka Island has been identified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because it is a breeding site for Fiordland penguins. New Zealand fur seals currently numbering in the thousands have recolonized the islands following the end of commercial sealing. Hector's dolphins and

bottlenose dolphin Bottlenose dolphins are aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus definitively contains two species: the common ...

s (occasional) are present at

Jackson Bay Jackson Bay / Okahu is a gently curving 24 km bay on the southern West Coast of New Zealand's South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the ...

, and migratory southern right and

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 hump ...

s are also present.

Great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. It is nota ...

s have also been confirmed in the area.

Wekas

Although introduced mammals are not known ever to have reached the Open Bay Islands, the introduction of

weka The weka, also known as the Māori hen or woodhen (''Gallirallus australis'') is a flightless bird species of the rail family. It is endemic to New Zealand. It is the only extant member of the genus ''Gallirallus''. Four subspecies are recognize ...

(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.Stirling, I. & Johns, P.M. (1969) "Notes on the bird fauna of Open Bay islands", ''Notornis'' 16(121-125).Burrows, C.J. (1972) "The flora and vegetation of Open Bay Islands", ''Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand'' 2 (15-42). The

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

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.

Castaways

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

References

External links

Recording of the sealers' song

Critters of Taumaka
on the blog of

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

Birdlife of Taumaka
on the blog of

{{coord, 43, 52, S, 168, 53, E, display=title, region:NZ_type:isle_source:GNS-enwiki Uninhabited islands of New Zealand Westland District Important Bird Areas of New Zealand Landforms of the West Coast, New Zealand Archipelagoes of New Zealand Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean

Wildlife

Wekas

Castaways

See also

References

External links