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Monday 25 November 2013

Using Te Ara 3

Using Te Ara -
The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
3. Manukau Harbour

L.I. Develop our knowledge of Auckland and the Tamaki river
Familiarise ourselves with an online NZ encyclopaedia

Use this link to open Te Ara
Enter Tamaki river into the search box and use the Harbours and wetlands page to answer these questions.

What two adjectives are used to describe the Manukau Harbour?
It is wide and shallow

What landforms are common in the harbour?
Wetlands and Rivers

What two things about the Manukau Harbour have led to shipwrecks?
Its entrance is prone to swells and shifting sandbars – the cause of many shipwrecks.

What was the worst shipwreck on the Manukau bar?
On a fine day on 7 February 1863 the HMS Orpheus – carrying naval stores – approached Manukau Harbour. Seeing it was off course to cross the bar, the onshore signalman motioned to change direction. But the warning was too late, and the ship ran aground. As the sea got heavier, it began to break up. Lifeboats were swamped. With the crew clinging helplessly to the rigging, the ship’s masts fell one by one into the sea. Of the 259 people on board, 189 drowned. It remains New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster.

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