Abstract
Shore whaling represents the earliest period of European settlement in the lower South Island. While the history of whaling has been well documented, little systematic work has been carried out on the archaeology of whaling. A site survey was undertaken in order to establish a basis for any further investigation of shore whaling in the area. This initial brief was extended to include analysing an 1844 survey that included the Otakou station and an excavation of the Wellers Rock try-works at Otakou.
Throughout this work both the data collected and the methods used to collect it have been analysed and assessed.