Leask Bay
Small bay on Stewart Island in New Zealand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leask Bay is a small bay on Stewart Island, east of Oban in New Zealand.
| Leask Bay | |
|---|---|
View of Leask Bay | |
| Location | Stewart Island |
| Coordinates | 46.898°S 168.145°E |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Leask Bay | |
History
European settlement of Leask Bay began in the 1840s and 1850s, before Halfmoon Bay became the main point of settlement.[1]
Leask Family
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
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]
The Polynesian rat (kiore) is largely not found on the New Zealand mainland, but have been found at Leask Bay.[9]
