Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands
Ngā Motu Karaka | |
---|---|
Geography | |
Coordinates | 34°09′14″S 172°8′24″E / 34.15389°S 172.14000°E |
Total islands | 13 |
Area | 6.85 km2 (2.64 sq mi) |
Highest elevation | 295 m (968 ft) |
Administration | |
NZL New Zealand | |
Demographics | |
Population | None |
The Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands (sometimes just known collectively by the
History
During the Last Glacial Maximum when sea levels were over 100 metres lower than present day levels, most offshore islands of New Zealand were connected to the mainland. Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands, while connected to each other, were not connected to the rest of New Zealand. Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, separating the individual islands in the group.[2]
Manawatāwhi was traditionally settled by
`Most of the larger islands were inhabited, and the Great Island was cleared by Māori of vegetation to grow
Dutch explorer
In the late 1700s, a party of mainland Te Aupōuri led by Taiakiaki travelled to the islands and killed the approximate 100 inhabitants, led by Toumaramara.
The islands were purchased by the New Zealand government in 1908 from seven Māori people, and declared an animal sanctuary in 1930.[4] A population of goats (left on the Manawatāwhi Island in November 1889 as a food source for shipwrecked people) had run rampant, reaching numbers of 300-400 goats by 1900.[4][3] This led Baden Powell of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, who visited in a group, to petition the government to deal with the goat population. In 1946 the goat population were shot and removed from the island, leading to the regeneration of forest on Manawatāwhi.[4] However, 50 species described by Cheeseman in the 1880s have not been described again,[4] and by the 1980s two plant species were only represented by one wild specimen.[3] In 1956, the islands were declared a reserve for the preservation of flora and fauna.[4]
There have been several notable research expeditions that have concentrated on studying the fauna and flora of the Three Kings island group including the Three Kings Islands expedition 1970.[6]
Geography
The Three Kings group falls into two subgroups with four main inhospitable islands and a number of smaller rocks on a submarine plateau called King Bank which rises out of extremely deep water. There are no beaches.[5] The surrounding sea has very clear visibility and contains teeming fish life, attracting hundreds of divers. Another attraction is the wreck of the Elingamite which foundered there on 9 November 1902.
King Group
Manawatāwhi / Great Island
With an area of 4.04 square kilometres (1.56 sq mi), Manawatāwhi / Great Island is by far the largest island of the group. A northeastern peninsula, with an area of about 1 km2, is almost cut off by a 200 m wide but more than 80 m high isthmus formed by North West Bay and South East Bay. The island reaches an elevation of 295 m in the western part, while the peninsula is up to 184 m high near its western cliffs. The southern portion consists of the Tasman Valley, a series of rolling hills that drain into the Tasman Stream.[3] Most of the Māori archaeological features on the islands are found in this area.[3]
Oromaki / North East Island
A smaller island about 0.10 square kilometres (0.039 sq mi) in size and reaching a height of 111 metres (364 ft), approximately 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) northeast of Manawatāwhi. The island is surrounded by 70-90m high cliffs.[3] Māori stonework and terracing can be found on the island.[3]
Farmer Rocks
Farmer Rocks, 0.8 km east of Manawatāwhi / Great Island, are 5 metres high and just a few hundred square metres in size.
Southwest Group
Moekawa / South West Island
The second largest island of the group, at 0.38 square kilometres (0.15 sq mi) and a height of 207 metres (679 ft). It is about 4.5 km southwest of Great island. The island is surrounded by 80-120m high cliffs.[3]
The Princes Islands
The Princes Islands are seven small islets and numerous rocks with a total area of about 0.2 km2, start 600 m west of South West Island and stretch about 1.8 km east–west. The north-eastern islet is the highest at 106 m. The smallest islet is Rosemary Rock. These islands are sparsely vegetated.[3]
Ōhau / West Island
The third largest island at 0.16 km2, found 500m southwest of the westernmost of the Princes Islands. It is 177m high, surrounded by 40-130m high cliffs.
Geology
The islands have a volcanic origin.
Flora and fauna
Flora
In 1945, G. T. S. Baylis made a remarkable discovery on the Three Kings Islands, when he found the last remaining specimen anywhere of a tree which is now called Pennantia baylisiana, a kaikomako. It was recognised internationally as the world's rarest and thus most endangered tree. Extremely careful propagation in New Zealand has resulted in the species being reliably established, but it continues to be carefully monitored. The islands were made a wildlife sanctuary in 1995. Other plants endemic to the islands include Tecomanthe speciosa and Elingamita johnsonii.
Fauna
The Three Kings have extremely high levels of endemism, even compared to other isolated islands. About 35% of its beetle species are found nowhere else, and there are six endemic genera: Gourlayia (Carabidae), Heterodoxa and Pseudopisalia (both Staphylinidae), Partystona and Zomedes (both Tenebrionidae) and Tribasileus (Anthribidae). There are probably another seven undescribed endemic genera.[7]
Falla's Skink (Oligosoma fallai) is a reptile species only found on these islands.
Geobiology
There is considerable evidence that the Three Kings Islands have not been recently connected to the North Island landmass but have been connected to each other by land bridges. Genetic studies of different insect populations have suggested different separation times from similar species found in the North Island varying from 24 million years ago to 2.24 million years ago.
Nature reserve
Three Kings Island is a nature reserve administered by the Department of Conservation. Rats and mice were never introduced to the Three Kings, although goats were introduced to Great Island and caused significant damage to the vegetation and soil.[7]
See also
- Desert island
- List of islands
References
- ^ "Data Table - Protected Areas - LINZ Data Service (recorded area 684.7281 ha)". Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
- ^ "Estuary origins". National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
- ^ Wikidata Q58677302.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stokes, Dame Evelyn (2002). "THE MURIWHENUA LAND CLAIMS POST 1865 WAI 45 AND OTHERS" (PDF). Waitangi Tribunal. New Zealand Government. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Judd, Warren (1996). "The clifftop world of the Three Kings". New Zealand Geographic (29). Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- Wikidata Q105726736.
- ^ hdl:10182/2996.
- .
- doi:10.1071/MR03001.
External links
- Diving at Three Kings Islands travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Topographic maps of New Zealand
- Nautical description (see page 211)