Editing Marlborough Sounds (section)

==Overview==
Covering some {{convert|4000|km2|abbr=on}} of sounds, islands, and peninsulas, the Marlborough Sounds lie at the South Island's north-easternmost point, between [[Tasman Bay]] in the west and [[Cloudy Bay]] in the south-east. The almost [[fractal]] coastline has 1/10 of the length of New Zealand's coasts.<ref>A Nicol (2011). ''Landscape history of the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand'', New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 54:2, 195–208, {{doi|10.1080/00288306.2010.523079}}</ref>

The steep, wooded hills and small quiet bays of the sounds are sparsely populated, as access is difficult. Many of the small settlements and isolated houses are only accessible by boat. The main large port is [[Picton, New Zealand|Picton]] on the mainland, at the head of [[Queen Charlotte Sound (New Zealand)|Queen Charlotte Sound]]. It is at the northern terminus of the South Island's main railway and [[New Zealand state highway network|state highway]] networks. The main small-boat port, [[Waikawa, Marlborough|Waikawa]], is one of New Zealand's largest and provides a base for leisure sailors and vacationers.

The main sounds, other than Queen Charlotte Sound, are [[Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere]] and [[Kenepuru Sound]]. [[Havelock, New Zealand|Havelock]] is a small port town at the head of [[Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere]].  [[Tory Channel]] is a major arm of Queen Charlotte Sound, and between them, the Channel and the Sound isolate the hills of [[Arapaoa Island]] from the mainland. Other major islands in the sounds include [[D'Urville Island, New Zealand|D'Urville Island]].

The Sounds are home to the entire breeding population of the rare and [[vulnerable species|vulnerable]] [[rough-faced shag]] (also known as the New Zealand king cormorant) which nests on a [[Marlborough Sounds Important Bird Areas|small number of rocky islets]] there.<ref name="bli">BirdLife International. (2012). ''Important Bird Areas factsheets: Duffers Reef. Sentinel Rock. Trio Islands. White Rocks.'' Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2012-02-03.</ref>  The [[Department of Conservation (New Zealand)|Department of Conservation]] manages a total of over 50 reserves in the area.<ref name="DOCHIST">
[http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/page.aspx?id=35179 Marlborough Sounds] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081015213713/http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/page.aspx?id=35179 |date= 2008-10-15 }} (from the [[Department of Conservation (New Zealand)|Department of Conservation]] website. Accessed 2008-05-16.)
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