Oaia Island is an island on the west coast of the Auckland Region, New Zealand, near Muriwai. Home to an Australasian gannet colony, the island was traditionally used as a seasonal food resource for Tāmaki Māori iwi, including Te Kawerau ā Maki. Over the 21st century, the gannet population grew significantly, which had a negative impact on the island's flora, and led to gannets colonising areas of the Muriwai mainland. The island is a known location where the rare korowai gecko has been found.
Native name: Motu-ō-Haea | |
|---|---|
 Oaia Island seen from Muriwai Beach | |
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| Geography | |
| Location | Auckland |
| Coordinates | 36°50′26″S 174°24′39″E / 36.84056°S 174.41083°E |
| Adjacent to | Tasman Sea |
| Area | 1,400 m2 (15,000 sq ft) |
| Length | 60 m (200 ft) |
| Width | 30 m (100 ft) |
| Highest elevation | 25 m (82 ft) |
| Administration | |
New Zealand | |
Geography
editOaia Island is located off the west coast of the Auckland Region near Muriwai, approximately 1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) due west of Maukatia Bay and Collins Bay.[1] The island is adjacent to Muriwai Regional Park.[2][3] It is likely an early Miocene eroded remnant of pillow lava flow from the Waitākere volcano.[3]
Biodiversity
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The island is home to an Australasian gannet colony. The population increased by more than five times between 1940 and 1970 to a total of 892 breeding pairs, which had a negative effect on vascular plant life on the island.[3] As the colony expanded, gannets began to settle at the Muriwai gannet colony to the east.[4] The island has been classified as identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International, as a part of the Muriwai and North Auckland Seabird Flyway areas.[5][6]
Flora on the island includes Disphyma australe (New Zealand ice plant), Chenopodium allanii and Coprosma repens (taupata), with historic records indicating Lepidium oleraceum previously was found on the island.[3] Seashore earwigs have been identified on Oaia Island, and New Zealand fur seals are known to visit the island.[3]
The island is a habitat for the rare korowai gecko, which was first identified as living on the island in 1954; then thought to be a different species of gecko, Woodworthia maculata.[7]
History
editThe traditional Tāmaki Māori name for the island is Motu-ō-Haea ("Brilliant White Island"), a reference to gannett and seagull guano colouring the island white.[1][8] The island was traditionally visited by Te Kawerau ā Maki, as a place where food resources could be collected in calm weather, including birds, bird eggs, and kekeno (New Zealand fur seals).[8]
In 1902, politician and later Mayor of Auckland City, Edwin Mitchelson, constructed a wooden mansion at Muriwai which he named Oaia, after the island.[9]
Oaia Island is the subject of Colin McCahon's acrylic landscape Moby Dick Is Sighted Off Muriwai Beach (1972), which was featured in a New Zealand Post stamp campaign in 1997.[9][10]
References
edit- ^ a b "Place name detail: Oaia Island". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ "Muriwai Regional Park". Auckland Council. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Cameron, EK; Taylor, GA (1989). "Oaia Island, South Muriwai" (PDF). Auckland Botanical Society Journal 44 (1): 11–12. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ Wassilieff, Maggy (17 February 2015). "Gannets and boobies - Gannets: description and habitat". Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ "Important Bird Area factsheet: Muriwai". BirdLife International. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ "Important Bird Area factsheet: North Auckland Seabird Flyway". BirdLife International. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ "Korowai gecko". New Zealand Herpetological Society. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ a b Te Kawerau ā Maki; The Trustees of Te Kawerau Iwi Settlement Trust; The Crown (22 February 2014). "Te Kawerau ā Maki Deed of Settlement Schedule" (PDF). Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ a b Harvey, Bob (2012). Untamed Coast: Auckland's Waitakere Ranges and Heritage Area (revised and updated ed.). Auckland: Exisle Publishing. p. 157, 187-88. ISBN 978-0-908988-67-9.
- ^ "Moby Dick is sighted off Muriwai beach". Te Papa. Retrieved 6 July 2024.