The Noises are a group of islands in the Hauraki Gulf of Auckland, New Zealand, lying northeast of Rakino Island and visible from the Auckland-to-Waiheke ferry. The islands are built of complexly folded Jurassic rock, with wave-cut platforms exposing up to 25 meters of rock at low tide and shallow reefs giving way to muddy or sandy seafloor further out; around 18,000 years ago, at the height of the last glacial period, they were inland hills, becoming islands only as sea levels rose from about 7,000 years ago. The largest islands are Ōtata, Motuhoropapa, Maria (also called Ruapuke) and Orarapa; Maria became the first predator-free island in New Zealand after rats were eradicated in the 1960s, and the group, owned by the Noises Trust since 1995, now supports abundant seabirds and native forest despite occasional reinvasions and heavy fishing pressure on surrounding waters.
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The Noises (Wikipedia)
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The Noises are a collection of islands lying northeast of Rakino Island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf, off the coast of the North Island of New Zealand.
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