 Southern end of Arapaoa Island | |
 Arapaoa Island relative to the South Island | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Marlborough Sounds |
| Coordinates | 41°11′22″S174°18′10″E / 41.18951°S 174.30290°E /-41.18951; 174.30290 |
| Area | 75 km2 (29 sq mi) |
| Length | 28 km (17.4 mi) |
| Width | 4 km (2.5 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 559.4 m (1835.3 ft) |
| Highest point | Narawhia |
| Administration | |
New Zealand | |
| Region | Marlborough District |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 50 |
Arapaoa Island (formerly spelledArapawa Island) is thesecond-largest island in theMarlborough Sounds, at the north-east tip of theSouth Island of New Zealand. The island has a land area of 75 km2 (29 square miles).Queen Charlotte Sound defines its western side, while to the south liesTory Channel, which is on the sea route betweenWellington in theNorth Island toPicton.Cook Strait's narrowest point is between Arapaoa Island's Perano Head andCape Terawhiti in the North Island.
According toMāori oral tradition, the island was where the great navigatorKupe killed the octopusTe Wheke-a-Muturangi.[1]
It was from a hill on Arapaoa Island in 1770 that CaptainJames Cook first saw the sea passage from thePacific Ocean to theTasman Sea, and confirmed that what the indigenous people had told him was correct –Aotearoa is composed of two main islands.[2] Cook is not known for naming places after himself, and it is speculated thatJoseph Banks bestowed the nameCook Strait.[3] This discovery banished the fond notion of geographers that there existed a great southern continent,Terra Australis. A monument at Cook's Lookout was erected in 1970.
From the late 1820s until the mid-1960s, Arapaoa Island was a base forwhaling in the Sounds.John Guard established a shore station at Te Awaiti in 1827, however initially could only salvagebaleen until the station was equipped to processwhale oil from 1830 onwards, targetingright whales.[4] Later, the station at Perano Head on the east coast of the island was used to hunthumpback whales from 1911 to 1964 (seeWhaling in New Zealand). The houses built by the Perano family are now operated as tourist accommodation. In the 2000s the former whalers from the Perano and Heberley families, who live on Arapawa, joined aDepartment of Conservation whale spotting programme to assess how the humpback whale population has recovered since the end of whaling.[5][6][7]
An Air AlbatrossCessna 402 commuter aircraft struck the 11,000-volt power lines linking the island and the mainland overTory Channel in 1985.[8] Eight people died in the crash, including the pilot. The sole survivor 11-year-old Cindy Mosey lost both her parents and two sisters in the crash. In 2001 the high-tension wires above Tory channel were labelled among the "20 worst spans" posing hazard to aircraft by theCAA. This and other high-tension wire spans in the Marlborough Sounds still remain a point of contention having caused multiple deadly wire strikes.[9][10]
In August 2014, the spelling of the island's name was officially changed fromArapawa toArapaoa.[11]
Parts of the island have been heavily cleared of native vegetation in the past through burning and logging, A number of pine forests were planted on the island.[12]Wilding pines, aninvasive species in some parts of New Zealand, are being poisoned on the island to allow the regenerating native vegetation to grow. About 200 hectares (490 acres) at Ruaomoko Point on the south-eastern portion of the island will be killed by drilling holes into the trees and injecting poison.[13]
Arapaoa Island is known for the breeds of domestic animals found only on the island – theArapawa pig,Arapawa sheep andArapawa goat. They became established in the 19th century, but the origin of the breeds is uncertain, and a matter of some speculation. Common suggestions are that they are old English breeds introduced by the early whalers, or by Captain Cook or other early explorers. These breeds are now extinct in England, and the goats surviving in a sanctuary on the island are now also bred in other parts of New Zealand and in the northern hemisphere.
Introduced predators on the island includestoats,feral cats, rats and mice. Stoats are being trapped with the aim of eradicating them. Trail cameras for monitoring stoats revealed that feral cats were also a major problem on the island, and they are now being targeted too.[14]
The smallBrothers Islands, which lie off the northeast coast of Arapaoa Island, are a sanctuary for the rareBrothers Island tuatara.
