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ABOUT WHALE ISLAND
Moutohora or Whale Island - a dormant volcano
five nautical miles off Whakatane - is now a
wildlife sanctuary under the protection of the
Department of Conservation and a refuge for
endangered birds and plants.
Fifty years ago it was a different story. The
island had seen over a hundred years of
exploitation – from an early attempt at whaling,
to uneconomical sulphur mining, to the removal
of the rock itself, quarried for a harbour wall
on the mainland.
Introduced species had devastated the native
flora and fauna. Try this for a predatory
combination, all on a 143 hectare island…. goats
eating just about everything in sight; rats
averaging a foot long (not counting their tail)
and known to kill lambs and pigs; rabbits
introduced by crayfishermen to bait their pots
and eventually breeding up to around half a
million; and, just to top it off, feral cats.
In the 1960’s the pendulum finally swung from
exploitation to conservation. The island was
declared a wildlife refuge in 1965 and the
immediate aim was to eradicate noxious animals.
The goats were gone by 1977, the rabbits
poisoned and the rats gone ten years later. The
Crown purchased the island and embarked on a
programme of reintroducing indigenous flora and
fauna.
Today the island is covered in lush vegetation –
a mosaic of pohutukawa, mahoe, kanuka, bracken
fern and grassland – and now home to 190 native
and 110 introduced plant species. It is also
home to endangered species - our iconic kiwi,
saddleback birds, the blue penguin and our
native reptile, the tuatara. And it’s a breeding
ground for muttonbirds, sooty shearwaters,
little blue penguins, the threatened New Zealand
dotterel and the oystercatcher.
The island has numerous archeological sites of
Maori origin and local Maori are helping shape
the island’s future. Strategic management of
Moutohora is now the responsibility of Te
Tapatoru a Toi - a joint management committee
comprising Ngati Awa and the Department of
Conservation.
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