Gerald McCormack, CINHT
Takutea Island – Geo Photoz
Takūtea is a small, low, unpeopled island 22km northwest of Ātiu. It has a land area above median high water of about 120 hectares (90 hectares of vegetation and 30 hectares of beach) with a maximum elevation of about 6 metres. It is owned by the people of Ātiu who have traditionally visited to harvest wildlife and coconuts (for copra). Although not known to have been permanently settled there is the remains of a small archaeological structure on the eastern tip of the island.
When Mariri, one of the first settlers of Ātiu, visited the small neighbouring island he caught a Kū Tea, literally “squirrelfish, white”. To honour this rare event, because squirrelfish are typically red, he named the island Taku Kū Tea, “My White Squirrelfish”. The name later condensed to Takūtea.
