Goat Island (Auckland)

Goat Island
Te Hāwere-a-Maki (Māori)
Goat Island, being close to the shore, is a magnet for divers.
Geography
Location Auckland Region
Coordinates 36°15′55″S 174°47′52″E / 36.2652449°S 174.7978878°E / -36.2652449; 174.7978878Coordinates: 36°15′55″S 174°47′52″E / 36.2652449°S 174.7978878°E / -36.2652449; 174.7978878
Administration

Goat Island or Te Hāwere-a-Maki[1][2] is a tiny island (approximately 1 hectare or 2.5 acres) in New Zealand located close to the North Island coast, north of Auckland, northeast of Warkworth, and directly west of Little Barrier Island.[3] It is within Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve, New Zealand's first marine reserve.

Goat Island, as seen from off the beach

The island is spiritually significant to the local Māori tribe, Ngāti Manuhiri, because their ancestral waka (canoe), Moe Karaka, is said to have landed nearby.

As well as being in a marine reserve, Goat Island is a scenic reserve.[4] The University of Auckland has a research facility at Goat Island known as the Leigh Marine Laboratory headed by Professor John Montgomery. This will form the base for the University’s new South Pacific Centre for Marine Science (SPCMS). Prime Minister Helen Clark launched the national and international campaign to raise funds for the SPCMS at Leigh on 21 June 2008.

Takangaroa is another island in the same area which used to be known as Goat Island.

Flora and fauna

Goat Island and its surrounding area provide the habitat for the endemic beetle species Hyphalus wisei.[5]

See also

References

  1. "Notice of New and Altered Geographic Names, and Altered Crown Protected Area Names, for Ngāti Manuhiri Treaty of Waitangi Settlement 2012". Land Information New Zealand. 20 December 2012. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  2. "Islands and bays renamed in Maori". stuff.co.nz. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  3. "Place name detail: Goat Island". New Zealand Gazetteer. Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  4. Crown Protected Area Names. Land Information New Zealand.
  5. Hernando, C.; Ribera, I. (2010). "Limnichidae: Description of a new species from New Caledonia, and checklist of the taxa recorded from the Australian/Pacific Region (Coleoptera)" (PDF). Water beetles of New Caledonia. Part 1: 447. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2015.


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