Puysegur Point
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Puysegur Point is located in the far southwest of the South Island of New Zealand.[1] It lies within Fiordland National Park on the southern head of Preservation Inlet. It lies 145 kilometres west-northwest of Invercargill. It is the site of a lighthouse station now automated but for many years the home of 3 married permanent lighthouse keepers. The original wooden lighthouse was burnt down in 1943 by a man who had recently left a psychiatric hospital and made his way down to Coal Island across the fjord from the lighthouse. He decided the light was a deliberate plot to keep him awake at night by shining in his window so took matters into his own hands. He held all the keepers hostage with a rifle, smashed the radio telephone and set fire to the lighthouse. The concrete lighthouse which replaced it has now in turn been replaced by two automated beacons.
A large earthquake[2] in this region on 15 July 2009 pushed Puysegur Point closer to Australia by 30 cm.[3] Humpback whales pass the point during annual migrations.[4]
References
- ^ "Place name detail: Puysegur Point". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-08-12. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), retrieved 2009-08-24 - ^ http://www.theage.com.au/world/quake-moves-new-zealand-closer-to-australia-scientists-20090722-dtcq.html, retrieved 2009-08-24
- ^ Dawbin H.W., 1995 The Migrations of Humpback Whales which Pass the New Zealand Coast. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Volume 84, 1956-57. pp.147-196. Department of Zoology, Victoria University College, Wellington. National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved on 09 July 2014
External links
46°09′26″S 166°36′31″E / 46.1573°S 166.6087°E
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