Otago Harbor

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Otago Harbor
Geographical location
Otago Harbor (New Zealand)
Otago Harbor
Coordinates 45 ° 50 ′  S , 170 ° 37 ′  E Coordinates: 45 ° 50 ′  S , 170 ° 37 ′  E
Region ISO NZ-OTA
country New Zealand
region Otago
Sea access Pacific Ocean
Data on the natural harbor
length around 22 km
width Max. 5.2 km
Coastline around 65 km
Water depth Max. 12.2 m
places Dunedin , Port Chalmers , Portobello , Otakou
Tributaries Water of Leith and some streams (brooks)
Islands Quarantine Island , Goat Island , Pudding Island
Industrial port Dunedin ,
Port Chalmers
Jetty Portobello , Otakou , Deborah Bay , Ravensbourne (suburb of Dunedin )
Photography of the natural harbor
Otago Harbor Lower Harbor.jpg
Otago Harbor ( Lower Harbor ), Port Chalmers , Quarantine Island , Goat Island and Portobello
Dunedin , Otago Peninsula and Otago Harbor

The Otago Harbor is a natural harbor in the city of Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand . He has access to the Pacific Ocean .

geography

The Otago Harbor extends over a length of 22 km from the city center of Dunedin in a wavy line in a northeast direction. Its widest point is east of Port Chalmers and measures 5.2 km, with the average width being around 2.3 km. At around 360 m, the entrance to the natural harbor is also the narrowest part of the water. The port's fairways have been dredged in the Upper Harbor, the area between Port Chalmers and Dunedin to a width of 76 m to a depth of 7.6 m, in the Lower Harbor between Port Chalmers and the port entrance to a width of 180 m to at least 12.2 m m. The total length of the shoreline of the natural harbor is around 65 km.

In the harbor area between Port Chalmers on one side and Portobello on the other side there are three islands, Quarantine Island , Goat Island and Pudding Island .

geology

Created by the two lava beds of a volcano centered between Port Chalmers and Portobello , the bay, nestled between the range of hills of the Otago Peninsula and the hills around Mount Cargill , is a popular destination and tourist attraction. Sailing, windsurfing, fishing and shell collecting provide opportunities for activities. The two riverside streets on either side of the natural harbor give many different insights into the natural landscape .

The landscape found its origin in three major eruption phases of the volcano , which was active 11-13 million years ago and had around 200 cores. Designed as a shield volcano , the thin lava flowed off in both directions that form the bed of Otago Harbor today. The volcano reached a maximum height of around 1000  m . Despite erosion , the edges of the volcano can still be seen in the Otago Peninsula and Mount Cargill , which is the highest point in the area at 680  m .

description

In Otago Harbor are two docks, one in Port Chalmers and one near the center of Dunedin . This makes it the second largest port on New Zealand's South Island. Since the natural harbor was originally a shallow water area in which around 30% of the water surface falls dry at low tide , a fairway was dredged from the coast via Port Chalmers to Dunedin in the middle of the 19th century in the current area of ​​the port . In the so-called "Lower Harbor" (from the quarantine and goat islands - near Port Chalmers), the water is completely exchanged when the tide flows , which on the one hand leads to considerable currents at the port entrance, but on the other hand also the port basin with considerable amounts of fresh water provided. The biodiversity on the lake floor of the natural harbor appears remarkable, as a documentation from the Victoria University of Wellington shows.

For this reason, operates University of Otago , the New Zealand Marine Studies Center , a research station, one kilometer from Portobello is located on a small peninsula extending into the bay. In addition to the research activities, a permanent exhibition with an attached aquarium is used to convey the complex interrelationships of marine ecology to an interested public.

In addition to salmon for anglers, Otago Harbor offers a small branch of industry New Zealand the pee ( Paphies australis ), a small to medium-sized mussel (16–75 pieces per kg ) that likes to bury itself in the sand in shallow, nutrient-rich sea waters and finds ideal living conditions in Otago Harbor . It is harvested in the port area all year round and, as a delicacy, has become a small export hit in the region.

See also

literature

  • PJ Forsyth : The Dunedin Vulcano . New Zealand Geological Survey , 1985 (English).
  • Neville Peat : Southern Land, Southern People - Otago Museum's Landmark Gallery . University of Otago Press , Dunedin 2002, ISBN 1-877276-16-2 (English).

Web links

Commons : Otago Harbor  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Otago Harbor boating guide - About Otago Harbor . Otago Regional Council , archived from the original on April 9, 2017 ; accessed on May 7, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
  2. ↑ The linear expansion and the coordinates were measured with Google Earth.
  3. ↑ Patricia M. Ralph, JC Yaldwyn : Seafloor Animals from the Region of Portobello Marine Biological Station, Otago Harbor . In: Tuatara . Volume 6, Issue 2 . Wellington 1956, p.  58–84 (English, online [accessed April 17, 2017]).
  4. ^ New Zealand Marine Studies Center . University of Otago , accessed September 3, 2014 .