Te Waewae Bay is the westernmost of three large bays lying on the

Foveaux Strait Foveaux Strait ( ; ) is a strait that separates Stewart Island from the South Island of New Zealand. The width of the strait ranges from about , and the depth varies between . The strait was first charted by an American Seal hunting, sealer, O ...

coast of

Southland, New Zealand Southland () is New Zealand's southernmost Regions of New Zealand, region. It consists of the southwestern portion of the South Island and includes Stewart Island. Southland is bordered by the culturally similar Otago, Otago Region to the north ...

, the others being Oreti Beach and Toetoes Bay. Twenty-seven kilometres in length, the western end of the bay is mountainous, with the southern terminus of the

Southern Alps The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) are a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand, New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The n ...

and

Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park is a national park in the south-west corner of South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 13 National parks of New Zealand, national parks in New Zealand, with an area covering , and a major part of the Te W� ...

. Its Māori name reflects the southern chief (''

rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the leaders (often hereditary) of a (subtribe or clan). Ideally, were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land ( ...

''), Te Waewae who resided in the bay for large periods of time. The small farming town of

Orepuki Orepuki in Southland, New Zealand is a small country township on the coast of Te Waewae Bay some 20 minutes from Riverton, New Zealand, Riverton, 15 minutes from Tuatapere and 50 minutes from Invercargill that sits at the foot of the Longwood R ...

is situated on the cliffs at the eastern end of the bay and the timber town of

Tuatapere Tuatapere is a small rural town in Southland, New Zealand. It is the self declared "Sausage Capital of New Zealand". Tuatapere is located eight kilometres from the southern coast. The Waiau River flows through the town before reaching Te Wae ...

and

Port Craig Port Craig is located along the south coast (Te Waewae Bay) of the South Island New Zealand near Tuatapere. It was a small logging town born in 1916, with 200+ men women and children living there in its prime. Like other New Zealand bush towns, P ...

is located seven kilometres north of the bay, on the banks of the Waiau River, which has its outflow in the bay. The bay, lining from Sand Hill Point to

Pahia Pahia is a small rural locality in coastal Southland, New Zealand, not to be confused with the North Island tourist resort of Paihia. Surrounding areas include Ruahine, Wakapatu, Round Hill, Colac Bay and Orepuki. The main road, Orepuki-Riverto ...

Point, is declared as a marine mammal sanctuary and hosts an important habitat for

New Zealand fur seal ''Arctocephalus forsteri'' (common names include the Australasian fur seal, South Australian fur seal, New Zealand fur seal, Antipodean fur seal, or long-nosed fur seal) is a species of fur seal found mainly around southern Australia and New Z ...

s,Tuatapere area
- Department of Conservation the endemic Hector's dolphins and one of major winter breeding grounds for

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20� ...

s on mainland coasts. Other species can be seen within the areas, from time to time, include such as

humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...

orca The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...

Hooker's sea lion The New Zealand sea lion (''Phocarctos hookeri''), once known as Hooker's sea lion, and as (for both male and female) or (male) and (female) in Māori language, Māori, is a species of sea lion that is Endemism, endemic to New Zealand and pr ...

s, and

leopard seal The leopard seal (''Hydrurga leptonyx''), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). It is a top order predator, feeding on a wide range of prey including cep ...

s. Sea Shepherd is conducting annual patrolling named the "Operation Pahu" (''Pahu'' stands for Hector's Dolphins in

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 ...

). Surrounding lands, both coastal and terrestrial, are home to little blue penguins and

Fiordland crested penguin The Fiordland penguin (''Eudyptes pachyrhynchus''), also known as the Fiordland crested penguin (in Māori, ''tawaki'' or pokotiwha), is a crested penguin species endemic to New Zealand. It currently breeds along the south-western coasts of Ne ...

s, 25 species of native birds, and the endangered New Zealand long-tailed bats

Gallery

Monkeyisland.jpg, Monkey Island and

Mussel Beach Port Craig.jpg, Mussel Beach,

References

External links

Bays of the Southland Region Southern Scenic Route Foveaux Strait Fiordland National Park {{Southland-geo-stub