tohorā
1. (noun) whale - often used as a general term, particularly for baleen whales.
Nāwai ā, ka kitea e te iwi o te kāinga; ka kīia he tohorā, ā, nō te tatanga atu ka mātauria mai he wahine (JPS 1911:87). / After a while she was seen by the people of the place, who said she was a whale, but when they were near to her they found it was a woman.
2. (noun) southern right whale, Eubalaena australis - a baleen whale with a large head and curved jaw found in temperate waters.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 2; Te Māhuri Audio Tapes/CDs (Ed. 2): exercises 1-3;)
Ka ahiahi ka kite rāua i tētahi tohorā, ko te upoko i mā, e mānu haere ana i te taha o tō rāua poti, mōhio tonu ake rāua he raiti wēra (TP 10/1902:10). / When it was evening they saw a whale and its head was white and it was floating along beside their boat, so they knew that it was a right whale.
See also kewa
wēra
1. (loan) (noun) whale.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 1-28; Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 1-3;)
Kua tae mai ki a mātou te reta a Tamihana Te Waitatakina, o te 27 o Hānuere, e whakaatu mai ana, ka nui te wēra o tēnei tau (TW 12/2/1875:9). / We have received the letter of Thompson Waitatakina of 27th January, informing us of the abundance of whales this season.
ngohi moana
1. (noun) whale - a general term.
Ko ētahi o ngā iwi o ēnei wāhi e kī ana he tupuna te tangata nei nō rātou, ā, e whakahua ana i te whakataukī i roto i te ngākau hīhī, 'Ānō te mahi a Paikea, te tangata i whakaahua nei i a ia, ki te ngohi moana!' (MM.TKM 3-4/1855:32). / Some of the tribes of these parts say that this man is an ancestor of theirs, and proudly quote the proverb, 'Behold the work of Paikea, the man who transformed himself into a whale!'
See also ika moana
parāoa
1. (noun) sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus - a toothed whale with a massive head and narrow lower jaw, typically feeding at great depths on squid. It grows to 18 m. Also used as a general term for whales.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 1-7;)
2. (noun) whalebone.
Ka nanao a ia ki tana patu parāoa, ka ākina ngā pane o te hoariri, mate rawa (Te Ara 2012). / He reached for his whalebone club and smashed the heads of the enemy, killing them.
3. (noun) whalebone weapon.
He tōpuni te kahu, he parāoa te rākau (NM 1928:87). / The cloak was a dogskin cloak of dark hair with white borders and the weapon a whalebone club.
pakake
1. (noun) whale, minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata - a small whale with a dark grey back and white underparts.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 6;)
I te mutunga o āna mahi manawa kai tūtae e tere ana i ngā moana o te ao, ka noho ia ki uta i te tau 1830, ki te teihana hopu pakake a Jacky Guard i Te Awaiti (TTR 1994:23). / After his adventurous occupation sailing the oceans of the world, in 1830 he lived ashore at Jacky Guard's Te Awaiti shore whaling station.
Synonyms: pakaka
hakurā
1. (noun) scamperdown whale, Gray's beaked whale, Mesoplodon grayi - a small, slender, beaked and toothed whale regularly stranded on Aotearoa/New Zealand beaches.
Synonyms: iheihe
kākahi
1. (noun) freshwater mussel, Hyridella menziesi - a bivalve mollusc which lives in fine mud or sand in freshwater lakes, ponds, streams and rivers. Has a dark, olive-brown coated shell and the inside is grayish-white.
Tōna maunga ko Ngongotahā, te moana ko Rotorua, ngā ika o roto he kōura, he kākahi, he īnanga (H 1992:50). / His mountain is Ngongotahā, the lake is Rotorua and the fish in it are crayfish, freshwater mussels and whitebait.
2. (noun) whale, orca, killer whale, Orcinus orca - a large, black-and-white dolphin with a tall, vertical, sharply triangular dorsal fin in the male and shorter, slightly hooked fin in the female. Because of the orca's sophisticated hunting techniques and intelligence, chiefs were sometimes likened to kākahi, as in the second example below.
Ko te kākahi i te waiata nei mō te tohorā (M 2004:232). / The term 'kākahi' in this song refers to the whale.
Te kākahi whakairoiro o te moana (W 1971:80). / The mottled orca of the sea.
See also maki
3. (noun) mist, haze.
Ki a Te Ātiawa ko te kākahi, ko te kōrehurehu i runga i te moana āio; hei te rangi ātaahua ka āhua auahi mai i runga o te moana (M 2004:232). / To Te Ātiawa the 'kākahi' is the haze on the calm sea which is seen on fine days and looks a little like smoke on the sea.
Synonyms: kōnenehu, haumāringiringi, tuarehu, waikohu, tūkōrehu, pūnehu, kōnehunehu, pūnehunehu, pūkohu, pūnenehu, kōnenehu, tārehu, tuarehu, waikohu, pūrehu, kohu, rehu, haumaringi, au, tākohu
tohoraha
1. (noun) whale, southern right whale, Eubalaena australis - a baleen whale with a large head and curved jaw found in temperate waters.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 2; Te Māhuri Audio Tapes/CDs (Ed. 2): Exercises 1-3;)
Ka karakia a Nukutawhiti ki te moana, kia mauria mai he tohoraha mō te kawanga o tōna whare (TWK 4:20). / Nukutawhiti chanted a ritual chant to the ocean to bring a whale for the ceremonial opening of his house.
See also tohorā
paikea
1. (noun) humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae - the most abundant large whale of Aotearoa/New Zealand. It is a baleen whale growing to 16 m long and has large knobby-edged flippers up to 4 m long.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 4;)
Ko te paikea me te parāoa ka hopukina i ēnei wā (Te Ara 1912). / The humpback and sperm whales were caught during these seasons.
See also hamupēke
miha
1. (noun) calf of a whale, whale calf.
Nā, ka tae mai a Kae kāore he kīnaki kai mā te tohunga nei, ka tonoa a Tutunui he pakake, ka tangohia mai te miha pakake, te kuao a Tutunui, ka patua hei kai mā Kae (JPS 1928:269). / Now, when Kae arrived there happened to be no choice food for him, and so Tutunui was summoned, and the whale calf, the young of Tutunui, was killed as food for Kae.
2. (noun) young fronds of rarauhe (bracken fern).
kewa
1. (noun) southern right whale, tohorā, Eubalaena australis - a baleen whale with a large head and curved jaw found in temperate waters.
Ka rokona e rātau ki te papā i waho i te moana, whēnā me te pū nā te papā. Ka mahara rātau he peke kewa e papaki ana i te moana (JPS 1901:89). / They heard a loud report out at sea, like that of a gun. They thought it was a whale flipper slapping the water.
parakipīhi
1. (loan) (noun) pilot whale, blackfish, Globicephala melas - a toothed whale with black skin, a grey, anchor-shaped marking on the chin and a square bulbous head.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 21;)
raiti wēra
1. (loan) (noun) right whale, southern right whale, Eubalaena australis.
Ka ahiahi ka kite rāua i tētahi tohorā, ko te upoko i mā, e mānu haere ana i te taha o tō rāua poti, mōhio tonu ake rāua he raiti wēra (TP 10/1902:10). / When it was evening they saw a whale and its head was white and it was floating along beside their boat, so they knew that it was a right whale.
2. (noun) southern right whale, Eubalaena australis - a baleen whale with a large head and curved jaw found in temperate waters.
upokohue
1. (noun) long-finned pilot whale, blackfish, Globicephala melas - a toothed whale with black skin, a grey, anchor-shaped marking on the chin and a square, bulbous head. Moves about in large schools, often stranding on beaches.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 21;)
Synonyms: parakipīhi, tukuperu, whāngai mokopuna
2. (noun) Hector's dolphin, Cephalorhynchus hectori - a rare patterned black, pale grey and white dolphin with a small rounded fin. Distinguished from the common dolphin by its shorter beak.
See also tūpoupou
patu tohorā
1. (verb) to hunt whales, whaling.
Ko Kaikōura Whakatau te kaingārahu o Ngāi Tahu i te takiwā o Kaikōura puta noa i ngā 25 tau o te tīmatanga o te taetae mai o te Pākehā ki te patu tohorā, me te tīmatanga o te mahi ahu whenua i te tekau tau atu i 1840 (TTR 1994:37). / Kaikōura Whakatau was the leader of Ngāi Tahu in the Kaikōura district throughout the first 25 years of the Pākehā arrival to hunt whales, and the commencement of farming in the 1840s.
