southerly waves in the Canterbury Bight rapidly eroded these weakly-resistant sands and gravels, and transported them northwards by longshore drift. This massive supply of sea-borne sediments moving towards Banks Peninsula combined with direct river-borne sediment to create the Kaitorete barrier and enclose what became Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora. Ecology The barrier is of considerable ecological significance and is home to the majority of the surviving specimens of shrubby tororaro (Muehlenbeckia astonii) – a nationally endangered endemic plant. The Kaitorete Spit dune habitat also contains a distinctive moth fauna with naturally rare species. Several species of moth are endemic to Kaitorete Spit including Kiwaia jeanae, Scythris niphozela and Kupea electilis. Rocketry In July 2015, aerospace company Rocket Lab announced that it would use Kaitorete Spit as their New Zealand satellite launch site. When the resource consent allowed them only twelve rocket launches per year the company went to Māhia Peninsula in the North Island instead. Kaitorete Spit had previously, in the 1960s, been used by NASA for rocket launches. References Headlands of Canterbury, New Zealand Spits of New Zealand Banks Peninsula Rocket launch sites