Ōtamahua / Quail Island

Ōtamahua / Quail Island ( or ) is an uninhabited island within Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō in the South Island of New Zealand, close to Christchurch. The island was given its European name by Captain William Mein Smith who saw native quail here in 1842; though they were already extinct by 1875. means 'the place where children collect sea eggs'.

History

Pre-European history

Ōtamahua was still often visited to collect shellfish, flax, bird's eggs as well as stone for tools (from Aua / King Billy Island, an outcrop just off Ōtamahua). Its significance to Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke as a site for food gathering was acknowledged with the installation in 2019 of a pou whenua. This pillar was carved by Caine Tauwhare and named Te Hamo o Tū Te Rakiwhānoa: a hamo was a tool for planting kūmara.

Quarantine and leper colony

Europeans briefly farmed the island in 1851, before it was turned into a quarantine station in 1875, a hospital during the influenza epidemic of 1907,

During its time as a leper colony, fourteen men were sent there, and two died there. Ivon Skelton arrived in 1919. He died there on 22 October 1923 at age 24, and was buried on the island.

Sam Te Iringa was brought to the island in late 1920 from Kirikau Pā, where only his niece had been willing to care for him. Due to the poor conditions he tried to organise a strike, but as the patients did no work, the strike was not effective. He died in January 1922 on a Friday afternoon, and was buried the next day by Lyttelton priest Father Patrick Cooney. The location of his grave is unknown.

Replicas of dog kennels (once used for training of the dogs used in Antarctic expeditions of the early 20th century) and a replica leprosy patient's hut were built by students of Cathedral College, with the quarantine barracks also restored and moved to the beach front. The Trust aims to restore of native forest to the island to provide a refuge for locally extinct, uncommon and threatened bird and invertebrate species of the Banks Peninsula region.

Community volunteers have been transformed large areas of the island from dry and desolate pest-ridden areas to a safe haven for indigenous species. The project is unique in the way it balances the recreational use and historical features of Ōtamahua / Quail Island while re-establishing the native ecosystems, both flora and fauna. Penguin nesting boxes have also been established on the island to provide a safe nesting site for the white-flippered penguin, an endangered Banks Peninsula native. The Trust organises fortnightly work parties on the island to undertake animal and weed pest control. An annual planting is undertaken each spring.

Since 1997, volunteers have eradicated rabbits, cats, hedgehogs, and ship rats from the island. A trap network on the mainland and the stepping-stone island to Ōtamahua aim to prevent reinvasion, but the island's inter-tidal link to the mainland make this likely, particularly by rodents.

The Trust's volunteers have planted more than 95,000 native trees and shrubs, established a nursery to propagate silver tussock, and eradicated all predators except mice. As a result, birds, invertebrates and rare plants have been reintroduced to the island. This includes korimako and kererū as well as Lepidium aegrum (Banks Peninsula scurvy grass), a "nationally critical" plant. Invertebrates translocated include a Banks Peninisula ground beetle Megadromus guerinii, Banks Peninsula tree weta Hemideina ricta, and the leaf-vein slug Pseudaneitea maculata.

Visitors

About 16,000 people visit the island every year.thumb|The Caretakers Hut, Ōtamahua / Quail Island

thumb|Swimmers Beach, Ōtamahua / Quail Island

References

External links

Department of Conservation – Ōtamahua/Quail Island Recreation Reserve
Ōtamahua/Quail Island Ecological Restoration Trust – Quail Island Ecological Restoration Trust