Leask Bay
Leask Bay is a small bay on Stewart Island, east of Oban in New Zealand.
History
[edit]European settlement of Leask Bay began in the 1840s and 1850s, before Halfmoon Bay became the main point of settlement.[1]
| Leask Bay | |
|---|---|
 View of Leask Bay | |
| Location | Stewart Island |
| Coordinates | 46°53′53″S 168°08′42″E / 46.898°S 168.145°E |
Leask Family
[edit]Leask Bay has been occupied by the Leask family for six or seven generations, after emigrating to Stewart Island from Orkney.[2][3] The Leasks were involved in the early construction of Stewart Island infrastructure: in 1897 Thomas and James Leask built the road from Oban to Harrold Bay.[1] The Leasks were some of the original boat builders of Stewart Island, and current descendants are still involved in the fishing industry.[1][4]
Natural environment
[edit]In 1933, the skull of the first recorded Shepherd's beaked whale was stored at Leask Bay, before being taken to Southland Museum.[5]
In a 1953 publication, it was noted that Leask Bay was an outlier on Stewart Island as it hosted exotic trees when the rest of the Island has only native trees.[6]
In the 1980s, an oil seep was discovered in Leask Bay. It is hypothesised that the oil naturally migrated from the Great South Basin into a shallow basin margin in Leask Bay.[7][8]
Kiore, largely not found on the New Zealand mainland, have been found at Leask Bay.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Sansom, Olga (2006). In the grip of an island : early Stewart Island history. Invercargill, N.Z.: Cadsonbury. ISBN 1-877346-14-4. OCLC 156630934.
- ^ Hindmarsh, Gerard (9 July 2021). "Stewart Island/Rakiura: Wonders of the Third Island". Stuff. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ hindmarsh, gerard (3 December 2012). "Stewart Island for beginners". Stuff. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "Toa Hunter Gatherer, Series 4 Episode 4". Māori Television. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Esler, Lloyd (29 November 2017). "Whale species discovery at Mason Bay, 1933". Stuff. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Usher, George A. (1953). "Flora and Fauna on Stewart Island, New Zealand". Oryx. 2 (3): 181–186. doi:10.1017/S003060530003622X. ISSN 1365-3008.
- ^ Cook, Richard (1982). "An oil seep at Leask Bay, Stewart Island, New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 25: 115–119.
- ^ Killops, S. D.; Cook, R. A.; Sykes, R. "Petroleum potential and oil‐source correlation in the Great South and Canterbury Basins". www.tandfonline.com. doi:10.1080/00288306.1997.9514773?needaccess=true&role=button. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ Taylor, R. H. (1 December 1975). "What limits kiore (Rattus exulans) distribution in New Zealand?". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 2 (4): 473–477. doi:10.1080/03014223.1975.9517888. ISSN 0301-4223.