Te Wheke-a-Muturangi
The giant octopus that was pursued across the Pacific by the Polynesian navigator Kupe. Te Wheke-a-Muturangi belonged to Muturangi, a chief from Hawaiki. The octopus harassed Kupe's fishing lines and stole his bait repeatedly. Kupe vowed to destroy it and chased it across the Pacific Ocean in his canoe Matahourua. The pursuit of the giant octopus led Kupe to discover Aotearoa (New Zealand). He finally killed the octopus in Cook Strait or at Hokianga Harbour. The immense size of the creature is described in legends as being large enough to wrap its tentacles around whole canoes