In answer to Anna and the students of George Heriot's School, Edinburgh. Scotland.

I introduced you last week to the flora and fauna of Matiu/Somes Island here in Wellington Harbour and as requested I have sought to find some other animal tales for you to enjoy...

The first is the tale of Pelorus Jack a Risso Dolphin (Grampus griseus) who became famous in late 19th and early 20th century Wellington for guiding ships through French Pass.

Risso dolphins are a beakless species and they are very rare in New Zealand.

His name is derived from both Pelorus Sound and from the common nick-name for a seaman jacktar.

Although no-one knows for sure it is popularly held that Jack was actually a female.

His popularity in New Zealand grew so much that people travelled to Nelson just to get a glimpse of the fascinating mammal.

Yet in 1904 a shocking incident occurred when someone onboard the Penguin took a shot at Jack from the ship's bow as he was accompanying the vessel. The bullet missed but folklore holds that he never again accompanied that vessel. We will never know for definite if this incident was the cause, but in 1904 a ruling was made by Government Order to protect Risso dolphins in Cook Strait.

In 1910 his fame spread beyond New Zealand's shores when he featured on the cover of the Christmas issue of the London News.

By 1912 Jack was gone. Maori legend holds that Pelorus Jack was a taniwha sent by the ocean god Tangaroa to guide and watch over Kupe the first ever explorer of Wellington.

According to Maori annals Taniwha can rest at the bottom of the ocean for long periods waiting to be called upon by Tangaroa. Just like the Loch Ness Monster there is strong belief that Pelorus Jack is still alive and waiting at the bottom of Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour) to again escort and cavort with boats when he is needed.


My second famous Wellington animal is actually Scottish (but from Glasgow rather than Edinburgh); although Wellingtonian's claim her as their own...

Mrs Chippy was the ship's cat that accompanied her master Harry McNeish (a master shipwright and carpenter) from Cathcart in Scotland on the legendary Endurance expedition that was Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914-1916 journey to the Antarctic.

The famous expedition was Shackleton's third with the objective of crossing the Antarctic continent from Vahsel Bay on the icy shores of the Weddell Sea crossing barrier ice, glaciers, crevasses and snowdrifts to reach the Ross Sea some fifteen hundred miles away. This crossing from sea to sea was the last major prize still available to polar explorers.

Mrs Chippy was a tiger-striped tabby and she set sail from London's East India Docks on August 1st 1914. This was the first time she had accompanied Shackleton on an expedition and so I am sure she was excited.

Becoming a great favourite with the crew, Mrs Chippy won admirers with her personality and her ability to walk along the ship's rail even in the roughest of seas. Actually male, Mrs Chippy, was so named because her master and best friend was known to the crew as Mr Chippy.

In October 1915 the Endurance was trapped and crushed by ice. Shackleton and a small team set out to get help. After an epic 800 mile voyage in an open boat they got they help they sought and the story of the rescue of all the crew, who made it home safely in 1916, is legend.

That is except for Mrs Chippy who died on the ice. Her master found his final resting place here in Wellington at Karori Cemetery and Mrs Chippy today is known as New Zealand's most famous cat!