TheMarlborough Sounds (te reo Māori:Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka) are an extensive network ofsea-drowned valleys at the northern end of theSouth Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination ofland subsidence andrising sea levels.[1] According toMāori mythology, the sounds are theprows of the many sunkenwaka ofAoraki.[2]
Covering some 4,000 km2 (1,500 sq mi) of sounds, islands, and peninsulas, the Marlborough Sounds lie at the South Island's north-easternmost point, betweenTasman Bay in the west andCloudy Bay in the south-east. The almostfractal coastline has 1/10 of the length of New Zealand's coasts.[3]
The steep, wooded hills and small quiet bays of the sounds are sparsely populated, as access is difficult. Many of the small settlements and isolated houses are only accessible by boat. The main large port isPicton on the mainland, at the head ofQueen Charlotte Sound. It is at the northern terminus of the South Island's main railway andstate highway networks. The main small-boat port,Waikawa, is one of New Zealand's largest and provides a base for leisure sailors and vacationers.
The main sounds, other than Queen Charlotte Sound, arePelorus Sound / Te Hoiere andKenepuru Sound.Havelock is a small port town at the head ofPelorus Sound / Te Hoiere.Tory Channel is a major arm of Queen Charlotte Sound, and between them, the Channel and the Sound isolate the hills ofArapaoa Island from the mainland. Other major islands in the sounds includeD'Urville Island.
The Sounds are home to the entire breeding population of the rare andvulnerablerough-faced shag (also known as the New Zealand king cormorant) which nests on asmall number of rocky islets there.[4] TheDepartment of Conservation manages a total of over 50 reserves in the area.[2]
The sounds were extensively travelled and partly inhabited byMāori groups before the coming of the Europeans, using the sounds as shelter from bad weather and partaking of the rich food sources. Māori were also known to carry their canoes over some stretches of land onportage paths.[2] However, as in most areas of the South Island, populations were smaller than in the North Island.
European history of the area is considered to start withCaptain Cook's visit to the sounds in the 1770s, discovering a plant (Cook's scurvy grass) high invitamin C which helped to curescurvy amongst his crew. OnMotuara Island, Cook also proclaimed British sovereignty over the South Island.[2] Some parts of the sounds also later developed a significantwhaling history,[2] and much of the sounds was (thinly) settled by European farmers in the late 19th and early 20th century.[citation needed]
The Marlborough Sounds are connected toCook Strait at the north-east extreme. At this point, theNorth Island is at its closest to the South Island, and the inter-island road, rail, and passengerferry service between Picton andWellington travels through the sounds.
Marine farming, especially ofsalmon andmussels, is increasingly common, having started in the 1960s.[5] However, thewakes caused by fastcatamaran vehicular ferry services to the North Island have allegedly damaged farms and destroyedcrab grounds. They were also blamed for stripping the local beaches bare of sand, and damaging landings and other facilities built close to the water's edge. This resulted in a dispute heard in the New ZealandEnvironment Court in the early 1990s, brought forward by the 'Guardians of the Sounds' group. The court, however, not only refused to restrict the fast ferries but also awarded NZ$300,000 in court costs against the citizen group which had brought the case. This was seen as a strong blow against civic action, and a curtailing of the powers of theResource Management Act.
However, as damage increasingly became visible, and protests continued, the fast ferries (which only operated for the summer season) were eventually restricted to a lower speed of 18 knots in the sounds (officially for safety reasons), reducing their time advantage over the conventional ferries.[6] They have since been discontinued.
In July/August 2007, the 'Guardians of the Sounds' environmentalist group planned a 100-ship flotilla protest againstscallop dredging in the sounds, which they consider damages the ecosystem of the sounds similar tobottom trawling in the open sea. The protest was intended to call attention to what they allege is the Ministry of Fisheries ignoring the detrimental effect of the practice. Commercial scallops harvesting companies have warned that protests could endanger lives if the protesters engaged in dangerous manoeuvres, while the Ministry of Fisheries has also noted that only 6% of the sounds are set aside for the dredging, though this had been much more extensive in the past.[7]
The main channels of the Marlborough Sounds have calm water and are popular forsailing.Cook Strait, however, is infamous for its strong currents and rough waters, especially when the wind is from the south or north. Because of this, some of the narrow channels closer to the Strait are dangerous to navigate. Notable amongst these isFrench Pass at the southern end of D'Urville Island, which has severalvortices.
The most notable shipwreck in the sounds is that of the Russian cruise linerMSMikhail Lermontov, which sank in 1986 inPort Gore, close to the mouth of Queen Charlotte Sound, after colliding with rocks. One crew member was killed in the disaster. The ship herself is now a populardive wreck.
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41°08′30″S174°05′22″E / 41.14167°S 174.08944°E /-41.14167; 174.08944
