Story: Nearshore islands

Arapawa Island, near Tory Channel in the Marlborough Sounds, was the most long-lived whaling settlement in New Zealand history. John Guard set up a shore-based station at Te Awaiti in the late 1820s (the exact date is disputed). In 1911 an Italian fisherman, Joe Perano, revived whaling from the bay. These two whaling boats from that time have harpoonists at the ready. The Peranos continued whaling from Arapawa Island until 1964.