a population of roughly 200 at any one time, breeding only at Ōkārito on the West Coast, and are symbols of beauty and rarity in Māori culture. The second name, Kōtukuwhakaoka, is shared with the Arnold River, and is the name of a Māori chief from the North Island who came upon the lake after following the river upstream. According to legend, the chief was attacked and killed by a taniwha which lived in the lake, which later became one of the two islands in the lake after it was killed by the chief's son. The name was variously rendered as Kotukuwakaho and Kotuku-kaoka; Brunner spelled it "Kotu-urakaoka" in the proclamation that in 1853 defined the boundaries of the province. In the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998, the lake's name was rendered slightly differently, as Kōtuku-Whakaoho. The origin was traced to a husband and wife, Kōtuka and Māwhera, who gave their names to the lake and the Grey River respectively. The English name "Lake Brunner" was chosen by John Rochfort to honour the 19th century explorer Thomas Brunner, who was the first European to visit the lake. History Māori occupation The lake was a significant resting point for Māori groups travelling east or west over the Hurunui saddle. They would stop at the lake to fish for eels and kākahi (freshwater mussels), catch birds, or process pounamu. The green stone only found on the West Coast was a precious commodity to Māori all through Aotearoa, and a significant trade good for the Poutini Ngāi Tahu, the hapū who lived west of the Southern Alps / Tiritiri-o-te-moana. Fortified settlements were built at Pah Point on the eastern side of the lake, and on nearby Takataka Island, with terraces, stockades, and gardens. There is evidence of pounamu working taking place at Pah Point and Takakataka Island at the lake, and Kotuku up the Arnold Valley. Early exploration Brunner, who in the 1840s had undertaken several journeys to and from the West Coast alone or in the company of Charles Heaphy—but always led, provisioned, and hosted by local Māori—spent Christmas of 1847 at the settlement of Māwhera at the mouth of the Māwheranui (Grey River). The resident Poutini Ngāi Tahu told him about a lake upriver, and Brunner was keen to explore the area inland. After a three-week delay while his guides went on a fishing trip, and ten days of provisioning,