Xeronema callistemon on Poor Knights Islands

The Poor Knights Islands (

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

: ''Tawhiti Rahi)'' are a group of islands off the east coast of the

Northland Region Northland (), officially the Northland Region, is the northernmost of New Zealand's 16 regions of New Zealand, local government regions. New Zealanders sometimes refer to it as the Winterless North because of its mild climate all throughout t ...

of the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. They lie to the northeast of

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the largest settlement of the Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, created in 1989 from the former Whangarei City, Whangarei County and Hikurangi Town councils to admi ...

, and offshore halfway between Bream Head and

Cape Brett Cape Brett Peninsula () is a long peninsula in the Bay of Islands, in the Northland Region of New Zealand. Geography The head of the peninsula is Cape Brett itself (also known by the Māori, ), a promontory which extends north into the Paci ...

. Uninhabited since the 1820s, they are a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

and popular

underwater diving Underwater diving, as a human activity, is the practice of descending below the water's surface to interact with the environment. It is also often referred to as diving (disambiguation), diving, an ambiguous term with several possible meani ...

spot, with boat tours typically departing from

Tutukaka Tutukaka () is a locality on the east coast of Northland, New Zealand, in an area commonly referred to as the Tutukaka Coast which includes Ngunguru and Matapouri. The city of Whangārei is to the southwest. The residential areas of Tutukaka ...

. The Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve surrounds the island. Beaglehole (1955) comments that the origin of the island name is not clear, and speculates that the name could be related to the

Poor Knights of Windsor Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

, or that the islands were named for their resemblance to Poor Knight's Pudding, a bread-based dish topped with egg and fried, popular at the time of discovery by Europeans.

Description

The chain consists of two large islands (Tawhiti Rahi, the larger at , and Aorangi () to the south), and several smaller islands. Aorangaia and

Archway Island Archway Island may refer to: * Archway Islands, New Zealand *Archway Island (Antipodes Island Group), New Zealand *Archway Island (Kawau Island) Archway Island is an island in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It lies to the south west of Kaw ...

lie to the southwest of Aorangi Island, and there is also a group of smaller rocky islets between the two main islands, the largest of which is Motu Kapiti Island. Others include

Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

and Kaka Rock. To the south, there is a smaller island named Ngoio Rock. The Poor Knights Islands are the eroded remnants of a 4-million-year-old

rhyolitic Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals ( phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The miner ...

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

that is estimated to have been tall and in diameter.

Oceanography

Spring

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

range for the islands is around , decreasing to a neap tide of around . The deep water around the island results in only moderate tidal currents. These are around the same magnitude as the prevailing shelf currents. In the general vicinity of the islands mean flows are around and run toward the southeast. A remarkable feature of the region is the large

internal tides Internal tides are generated as the surface tides move stratified water up and down sloping topography, which produces a wave in the ocean interior. So internal tides are internal waves at a tidal frequency. The other major source of internal wa ...

that occur. These are a form of

internal wave Internal waves are gravity waves that oscillate within a fluid medium, rather than on its surface. To exist, the fluid must be stratified: the density must change (continuously or discontinuously) with depth/height due to changes, for example, in ...

driven by the local tidal flow forcing the stratification against sloping areas of the shelf face. The surface manifestation of these waves can be seen from space. These waves generate brief highly localised accelerations. Internal wave amplitudes of around have been observed, generating flow speeds as great as .

Geology

The Poor Knights Islands were created in some of the earliest eruptions of the Coromandel Volcanic Zone, between 10 and 9.5 million years ago. The Poor Knights Islands vulcanism represents an early period for the Coromandel Volcanic Zone, as changes in tectonic forces caused the east belt of the Northland Arc (23 to 16 million years ago) to begin moving southwards, and eventually forming the modern

Taupō Volcanic Zone The Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ) is a volcano, volcanic area in the North Island of New Zealand. It has been active for at least the past two million years and is still highly active. Mount Ruapehu marks its south-western end and the zone runs n ...

Environment

The islands are protected as a nature reserve and a permit is required to land or tie boats up. Permits are usually granted only for scientific research. A notable native plant of the islands is the spectacularly flowering Poor Knights lily, which has become a popular garden plant.

Feral pig A feral pig is a domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the g ...

s, which had roamed Aorangi since the departure of Māori in the 1820s, were exterminated in 1936. The islands have been identified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

, by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because they are home to a breeding population of about 200,000 pairs of

Buller's shearwater Buller's shearwater (''Ardenna bulleri'') is a Pacific species of seabird in the family Procellariidae; it is also known as the grey-backed shearwater or New Zealand shearwater. A member of the black-billed wedge-tailed ''Thyellodroma'' group, a ...

s. The islands contain rock arches and sea caves, including Rikoriko Cave, the largest sea cave by volume in the southern hemisphere, with a cavern measuring and an opening large enough for small tour boats to enter. Rikoriko Cave measures , with a ceiling height of and extends deep below water. Tawhiti Rahi contains the Northern Arch, Middle Arch, and Maomao Arch, the latter being a popular diving location. Aorangaia Island's east–west rock arch resembles a long tunnel, while the aptly named Archway Island is bisected by two rock arches, with the larger Cathedral Arch about tall.

History

The islands were earlier inhabited by

of the

Ngāti Wai Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

and Ngati-Toki tribes who grew crops and fished the surrounding sea. The tribe traded with other Maori. A chief of the tribe named Tatua led his warriors on a fighting expedition to the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Ngā Puhi chief

Hongi Hika Hongi Hika ( – 6 March 1828) was a New Zealand Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the iwi of Ngāpuhi. He was a pivotal figure in the early years of regular European contact and settlement in New Zealand. As one of the first Māor ...

in the early 1820s. While they were away, a slave named Paha escaped the islands and travelled to

Hokianga The Hokianga is an area surrounding the Hokianga Harbour, also known as the Hokianga River, a long Estuary, estuarine drowned valley on the west coast in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. The original name, still used by local Mā ...

where he told

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

, a chief of the Hikutu tribe, that the islands had been left undefended. As Waikato had been offended by Tatua some years previous when he was refused pigs he had come to trade for, so he and his warriors set out on three large

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

s to attack the islands. They arrived at the islands one night in December 1823 and soon overpowered the islanders in the absence of their warriors. Many islanders jumped off the high cliffs to avoid being taken as slaves. Tatua's wife Oneho and daughter were captured and taken to the mainland where a distant relative recognised the wife and helped the two to escape. Tatua returned to the islands to find a scene of destruction. Only nine or ten people were left on the islands, including his five-year-old son Wehiwehi who had been hidden in a cave during the attack. The islands were declared tapu and Tatua left with the survivors and went to

Rawhiti Rawhiti (also spelled Rāwhiti or Te Rāwhiti) is a small beachfront town about 27km from Russell in the Bay of Islands of New Zealand. Marae The area has two Ngāpuhi marae. Kaingahoa Rāwhiti Marae and its Tūmanako meeting house are affil ...

in the

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for ...

where he unexpectedly found his wife and daughter.

References

External links

Geology – New Zealand's Geological History
, from ''An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'', edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 2006-09-26. Retrieved 2007-04-15. {{coord, 35, 30, S, 174, 45, E, region:NZ_type:isle, display=title Uninhabited islands of New Zealand Whangarei District Underwater diving sites in New Zealand Pliocene volcanoes Extinct volcanoes Former populated places in New Zealand Important Bird Areas of New Zealand Islands of the Northland Region Volcanoes of the Northland Region Volcanic islands of New Zealand