earth science

Moutohora Island

Moutohora Island is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Moutohora Island rather than just read about it. In short: Moutohora Island (previously known as Whale Island) (Māori: Moutohorā) is a small uninhabited island located off the Bay of Plenty coast of New Zealand's North Island, about 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) north of the town of Whakatāne. The 1.43 km2 (0.55 sq mi) island is a remnant of a complex volcano which has eroded, leaving two peaks.

Key takeaways

Moutohora Island belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Moutohora Island to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Moutohora Island from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Moutohora Island (previously known as Whale Island) (Māori: Moutohorā) is a small uninhabited island located off the Bay of Plenty coast of New Zealand's North Island, about 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) north of the town of Whakatāne. The 1.43 km2 (0.55 sq mi) island is a remnant of a complex volcano which has eroded, leaving two peaks. This is still an area of volcanic activity and there are hot springs on the island in Sulphur Valley, McEwans Bay, and Sulphur Bay.

Name The Māori name, Moutohorā, is a contracted form of Motutohorā, meaning "Whale Island" or "Captured Whale". The spelling "Moutohorā" (with a macron) is sometimes also used in English, although the official name of the island omits it. The spelling "Motuhora" is also used. (Tohorā is the Māori name for the southern right whale.)

History

Numerous archaeological sites of both Māori and European origin have been recorded, including an extensive pa (fortified earthworks) site on Pa Hill and a number of house terraces and garden sites, middens (food refuse dumps), stone tool manufacture areas and stone walls. After permanent Maori occupation ceased in the early nineteenth century, Ngāti Awa and Tūhoe continued to visit the island for sea food and muttonbirds and to collect stones for hāngī (underground ovens). The first European occupation came in the 1830s with an unsuccessful attempt to establish a shore-based whaling station. The venture failed without a single whale being captured. Forty years later came attempts to make money from sulphur. It was extracted and sold to a refinery in Auckland over a number of years but was of poor quality, and the venture was abandoned in 1895. The next phase of industrial activity came in 1915, when quarrying provided rock for the construction of the Whakatāne harbour wall. A total of 26,000 tonnes (25,589 long tons; 28,660 short tons) of rock was removed over five years.

Local government The island is not included in the boundaries of a territorial authority council (district council) and the Minister of Local Government is its territorial authority, with support from the Department of Internal Affairs.

Ecology In 1965, Moutohora was declared as a wildlife refuge, named as Moutohora Wildlife Management Reserve, and the island was bought by the Crown in 1984. Once the goats which had been introduced to the island were eradicated, a planting programme began and 12,000 plants covering 45 species are now established. Today Moutohora is covered with a mosaic of pōhutukawa, māhoe, kānuka, bracken and grassland. There are 190 native and 110 introduced plant species. The island is now completely free of the goats, rats, cats and rabbits which previously devastated native plants and animals. The most significant feature of Moutohora's current fauna is the breeding colony of grey-faced petrels. Sooty shearwaters, little blue penguins, the threatened New Zealand dotterel and variable oystercatchers also breed on the island. Threatened species which are occasional visitors are the Caspian tern, the North Island kaka and New Zealand falcon. Other species present include common forest birds, captive-bred red crowned parakeets, three lizard species and fur seals. Surrounding areas hosts rich marine ecosystem including cetaceans, oceanic birds, sharks. Most common of cetaceans are smaller species such as common and bottlenose dolphins, pilot whales, and killer whales while larger migratory baleen whales (southern rights and rorquals) and toothed whales including beaked whales also appear from time to time.

In March 1999, local Ngati Awa and the New Zealand Department of Conservation joined forces to see the fulfilment of a dream. Forty North Island saddleback (tieke) were transferred from Cuvier Island (Repanga), off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, to Moutohora. This relocation followed the traditional flight made centuries ago when the Mataatua waka (canoe) was accompanied by two tīeke from Repanga to Whakatāne. This flight followed the drowning of the twin sons of Muriwai, sister of Toroa, the captain of the waka. The two tieke settled briefly on Moutohora before returning to Cuvier Island.

Access Public access to Moutohora is restricted to Department of Conservation concession holders and approved scientific parties. During periods of high fire danger all access may be declined. The current concession holders are the local Maori tribe of Ngati Awa and tourist operators.

In popular culture In the fictional Harry Potter universe, Moutohora is the home of a professional Quidditch team, the Moutohora Macaws. The team players wear robes of red, yellow and blue.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Moutohora Island

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Moutohora Island claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Moutohora Island before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Moutohora Island ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Moutohora Island

In research: Moutohora Island appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Moutohora Island in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Moutohora Island is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Archaeological sites in New Zealand, Complex volcanoes, Inactive volcanoes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Moutohora Island outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Moutohora Island” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Moutohora Island in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Moutohora Island means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Moutohora Island out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Moutohora Island in simple terms?

Why does Moutohora Island matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Moutohora Island?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Moutohora Island.