A shallow bay, with a rocky shore and kelp beds at each side. Named for the yellow-fin kingfish seen swimming in the area.1
1. James R. Eyles, Place Names of Port Underwood - a post European History, (Picton: October Enterprises, 2002) 34.
Kingfish Bay
History
A shallow bay, with a rocky shore and kelp beds at each side. Named for the yellow-fin kingfish seen swimming in the area.1
Around from Separation Point is the small inlet known as Moki Bay or Tongue Bay.
The Māori name for this bay is given for the Moki found in the area, a type of edible fish.
The Pākehā (non Māori) name was given in memory of the whaler, Michael Aldridge, who lived in Ocean Bay but used this bay to process the whale tongues he was given in payment for acting as a translator or 'tonguer' between Māori and Pākehā.2
On average 6 to 8 barrels of oil could be collected from the tongue and other unprocessed parts of a whale carcass.3
1. James R. Eyles, Place Names of Port Underwood - a post European History, (Picton: October Enterprises, 2002) 34.
2. Loreen Brehaut, the Bays of Port Underwood, (Picton: Picton Historical Society, 2012) 11.
