Te Tāiko: What's in a name?
January 10th, 2023
Te Tāiko's previous name was Silverwind. Although we felt Silverwind was a good name, we wanted to find a name that we felt suited her more. It was at this point that we realised that finding a name for a boat was not easy. The names we had originally wanted to name her had already been taken — including Taiko (which we subsequently found out was a Japanese drum if you don't include the macron over the 'a' - a very important difference to what we were wanting her name to mean). We had always been told that changing a boat's name was bad luck, which is why we never changed our previous boat's names. But with Taiko, it felt different.
We've both always been conscious of our environment and the footprint we are leaving behind. We found choosing the right name was important which made it an even more difficult task. Because of our love for our environment and the flora and fauna that exist within it, we knew we wanted to find a name that raised awareness of a particular species that was significant in New Zealand. Unfortunately, one look at New Zealand's threatened species list was a bit overwhelming and heartbreaking to say the least.
After months of searching we came across 'te tāiko' which is te reo Māori for 'the black petrel'. The tāiko is a bird of pelagic waters and is endemic to New Zealand. These incredible birds have been seen off the coasts of Australia, the Pacific Islands, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and the Galapagos. From New Zealand to Ecuador that is at least 6,198 nautical miles! How incredible is that. However, the tāiko only breed in New Zealand. In fact, the tāiko used to breed throughout the North Island and northwest of Nelson but unfortunately, due to introduced mammalian predators and loss of habitat, the tāiko have now been forced to retreat and now only breeds in particular places such as Aotea (Great Barrier Island) and Hauturu (Little Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland. Adding to their threats are commercial and recreational fishers because the tāiko often gets caught in these activities and is recognised as the most at-risk sea bird in New Zealand from commercial fishing vessels.
After learning about the tāiko, how amazing they are, and their plight we knew we had found the right name for our boat. The macron on the 'a' as mentioned above was important too. With taiko already been taken as a name, we decided on te tāiko (the black petrel). We felt this bird deserved recognition and having awareness about it raised and it was a name we felt suited Tāiko. But wait...there's more to this story. After settling on Te Tāiko and registering her with this name, it was not until we had a conversation with someone who we would often speak with at one of New Zealand's stores. He was Māori and he worked in this store and whenever he saw us he would take the time to speak with us — one of the many things we miss from our previous land-based life as we loved these conversations. When we shared with him what we were up to, in that, we had bought an ocean going yacht and we were in the process of swapping our land-based lives for a simpler life, he asked us what her name was, which we replied Te Tāiko. It was this conversation that would truly signify to us what the meaning of choosing te tāiko for our boat would be. He said to us that we have chosen wisely because we had chosen a bird that was a strong sea going bird, and because we had bought a yacht, a land-based bird would not afford the same protection as a strong sea going bird.
After this, we knew for certain that we had chosen the right name for our boat for the reasons discussed above.
We hope this blog post has helped explain why we chose the name Te Tāiko and that it resonates with you.
If you would like to learn more about the tāiko and how you can support the tāiko then visit the sites below.
As always, thanks for taking the time to read.
Take care,
Adam & Vicki
https://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/black-petrel
https://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/black-petrel
https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/getting-involved/students-and-teachers/taiko-black-petrel-resources/taiko-black-petrel-education-resource.pdf
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/environment/educationsustainability/Documents%20%20Hauraki%20Gulf%20Island%20posters/black-petrel.pdf
https://blog.forestandbird.org.nz/monitoring-black-petrels-on-great-barrier-island/
https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Notornis_34_1-1987-pp19-39.pdf