Treasures of the sea

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• Home
• Executive Summary
• 1.0 Introduction
• 2.0 Methods
• 3.1 The Oceanography of the New Zealand Marine Ecoregion
• 3.2 Cetaceans, seals, and seabirds
  • 1. Subantarctic Islands (and continental shelf areas to 500m depth)
  • 2. Chatham Islands
  • 3. Chatham Rise
  • 4. Stewart Island
  • 5. South Island southern and eastern shelf edge
  • 6. Otago/Catlins Shelf
  • 7. Northeast South Island
  • 8. West coast of South island
  • 9. North coast of South Island
  • 10. Trench zone
  • 11. Coastal shelf and edge of the southeast coast and East Cape of the North Island
  • 12. Hauraki/northeast coast of North Island
  • 13. West coast of North island
  • 14. Three Kings Islands
  • 15. West coast basin
  • 16. Kermadec Islands
  • References and further reading
• 3.3 Fishes
• 3.4 Benthic invertebrates, algae, and plants
• 3.5 Information gaps
• 3.6 Future steps for the future of Biodiversity
• 4.0 Discussion
• 5.0 References
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Appendix 3
• Appendix 4

9. North coast of South Island

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Map ID Number: 9

Location: Whanganui Inlet to Cloudy Bay

Approximate area: 15,771km²

• Description of area
• Biological attributes
• Criteria applied
• Status and management
• State of information
• References and further reading

Description of area:

Continental shelf with shallow seas.

Biological attributes:

The north coast of the South Island is home to many inshore species. The area is of major importance for wading birds, which congregate here in large numbers. Farewell Spit is a key wintering ground for Northern Hemisphere waders. Gannets are found along this coast, there are 6 petrel species, and a large fairy prion (Pachyptila turtur) colony. There is also a population of the rare and endangered king shag (Leucocarbo carunculatus), which is restricted to the Marlborough Sounds.

The area is habitat for a variety of small cetaceans, including Hector's dolphins (Cephalorynchus hectori), bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncates), and orcas (Orcinus orca). There have been a number of beaked whale strandings on this coast. Fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri) breed in this area.

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Criteria applied:

Endemism; conservation status/threat classification.

Status and management:

Takapourewa Island and others have iwi involvement in management. There is human disturbance on the islands as a result of fishing.

State of information:

Good.

References and further reading:

Schukard (1994), Clement et al. (2001).