The settlement of Otakou lies within the boundaries of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located 25 kilometres from the city centre at the eastern end of Otago Peninsula, close to the entrance of Otago Harbour. Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, located in coastal Otago. ... NASA satellite photo of Otago Peninsula and Otago Harbour. ... Otago Harbour consists of a long, much-indented stretch of generally navigable water separating Otago Peninsula from the main urban areas of Dunedin, New Zealand. ...

A small fishing village, Otakou is important in the history of Otago for several reasons. Its original name was 'Otago' but European officials who had learned Maori in the North Island, visiting in the 1840s changed it to 'Otakou', believing that to be the correct form. In fact it isn't and 'Otago' is the correct southern Maori dialect word, as the earliest European records and the oldest Maori traditions both attest. But the myth is very much alive. Many people still believe that 'Otago' is a European corruption of 'Otakou'instead of the other way around. The place also includes the site of one of the region's oldest and largest European settlements, the Weller brothers'whaling station, founded in [1831]]. It was probably also the 'city of Otago' burnt by Captain Kelly in December 1817. The crew of the oceanographic research vessel Princesse Alice, of Albert Grimaldi (later Prince Albert I of Monaco) pose while flensing a catch Whaling refers to the practice, history and industries associated with the hunting and killing of whales. ...

Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the place was a prominent Maori settlement, and it is still the site of Otago's most important marae. The name 'Otakou' is thought to come from Maori words meaning either "single village" or "place of red earth". In its original form 'Otago' it was the name of the water off Wellers Rock but was transferred to the lower harbour as a whole, the port, the nearby Maori settlements and the Wellers' whaling establishment. It was as the name of these it was converted to 'Otakou', which form is still used to refer to them today. The old Maori names for the Maori settlements were Te Ruatitiko, Tahakopa, Omate and Ohinemu. Te Puni, Māori Chief Māori is the name of the indigenous people of New Zealand, and their language. ... A Maori word now common in New Zealand English, marae refers an area of land where the Wharenui or meeting house (literally big house) sits. ... Māori (or Maori) is a language spoken by the native peoples of New Zealand and the Cook Islands. ...

Otakou is located close to Taiaroa Head, the site of an albatross colony and other wildlife such as seals and penguins. Taiaroa Head is also the site of Pukekura, the ancient fortress for the harbourside villages, established about 1650 and still occupied by Maori in the 1840s. Taiaroa Head is a headland at the end of Otago Harbour in New Zealand, overlooking the mouth of the Otago Harbour. ... Genera Diomedea Thalassarche Phoebastria Phoebetria Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellarids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). ... Families Odobenidae Otariidae Phocidae Pinnipeds (fin-feet, lit. ... Modern Genera Aptenodytes Eudyptes Eudyptula Megadyptes Pygoscelis Spheniscus Extinct Genera, see Classification Penguins (order Sphenisciformes, family Spheniscidae) are an order of aquatic, flightless birds living in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

References

• Dann, C. & Peat, N. (1989). Dunedin, North and South Otago. Wellington, NZ: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01438-0.
• Entwisle, Peter. (1998) Behold the Moon, the European Occupation of the Dunedin District 1770-1848'. Dunedin, NZ: Port Daniel Press. ISBN 0-473-05591-0
• Goodall, M. & Griffiths, G. (1980). Maori Dunedin. Dunedin, NZ: Otago Heritage Books.