Moutohora Island

Iceland Whale ( Māori: Motuhora ) is a small island off the coast of the Bay of Plenty in the same region on New Zealand's North Island.

Geography

The island is located about twelve kilometers north of Whakatane. It received its English name from a whaling station, which was built here in the 19th century. The 1.43 km ² island is a remnant of a volcano from the Pleistocene, of which only two peaks are left by erosion. The area is still volcanically active. In Sulphur Valley, at the McEwan's Bay and Sulphur Bay, there are thermal springs.

History

On the island there are several archaeological sites of Maori and European settlers. This includes an extensive Pā on Pa Hill and a number of Lived races and gardens, Køkkenmøddinger ( deposits of food residues), areas where stone tools were made, as well as stone walls. Even after the island was no longer permanently inhabited by Māori after the early 19th century, visited members of the Iwi Ngati Awa and Tuhoe the island in search of sea creatures and the Dark shearwaters as well as stones for their underground ovens ( hangi ).

The first European settlers tried to run from the shore whaling in the 1830s. The company failed, without a single whale was caught. Forty years later, they tried to make money with sulfur, which was sold a few years at a refinery in Auckland, but was of poor quality. 1895 was also one on the sulfur removal. In the years 1915 to 1920 were built on the island of 26,000 tons of stone for the construction of the harbor wall from Whakatane from.

Ecology

1965 Moutohora was declared a nature reserve and acquired by the Crown in 1984. After wild goats were eradicated on the island, planted 12,000 plants in one of 45 species. The island is covered with a mosaic of pohutukawa, Mahoe, Kanuka, eagle ferns and grass country today.

On the island grow 190 native and 110 introduced plant species. It is free of goats, rats, cats and rabbits that had previously decimated the native flora and fauna today. The most important Faunenbestandteil the island is a breeding colony of the long wing - petrel ( Pterodroma macroptera ).

Sooty Shearwater, Little Penguin, Maori Plover and various oystercatchers also nest on the island. Endangered species that visit the island occasionally, are Caspian Tern, North Island Kākā and Maori hawk. There are also other forest birds, goats ausgewilderte parakeets, three species of lizards and the New Zealand fur seal.

In March 1999, were relocated before the Coromandel Peninsula by Moutohora in cooperation with the local iwi Ngati Awa and the Department of Conservation, two saddle Stare ( Philesturnus carunculatus ) of Cuvier Iceland. However, after a short time they returned to Iceland Cuvier.

Access to the island is only allowed with the permission of the office of the Department of Conservation, Whakatane and in organized tours and school trips.

Swell

• Whale Iceland in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)

• Island (New Zealand)
• Island (Australia and Oceania)
• Island ( Pacific Ocean )
• Uninhabited Island
• Bay of Plenty (Region)
• Lava dome