Early European accounts suggest that a population of Māori inhabited the fiord for a time, while battles between iwi (tribes) are said to have taken place in neighbouring Rakituma, but the extent of this habitation is not known.

As with the rest of the Fiordland coast, the fiord was briefly inhabited by crews of whalers and sealers, until declines in the population of these animals made the industry uneconomic by the 1830s.

Visits have been primarily for research or tourism, with photographs taken in the fiord during the late 19th century contributing to the campaign to establish the area as a national park.

Closer to the mouth, the Garden islands are another small group, located on the eastern edge of the fiord, at the entrance to South Port.

In another account, Te Korowhakaunu already existed, with the mud and water kicked up when Māui's foot slipped creating Moana-whenua-pōuri.

The isthmus between the two fiords constitutes part of the Dark Cloud Range, which extends seaward to form the southern side of Te Korowhakaunu / Kanáris Sound and the eastern edge of Taiari / Chalky Inlet.

These constitute the Tower Hills on the east and Te Rereka-o-Māui on the west, and consist of primarily schist and greywacke, with small portions of gneiss.

This fiord continues the northeast–southwest orientation of the majority of Taiari, beginning roughly 10 km (6.2 mi) from its junction with Te Korowhakaunu.

The second inflow into Lake Cove is Lumaluma Creek, which drains a large catchment area including multiple small tarns.

The conditions in Fiordland were not hospitable to ongoing habitation, although expeditions for exploration, hunting, and gathering of resources such as pounamu took place soon after the arrival of Māori in New Zealand, roughly 700 years ago.

More permanent occupation took place in the 18th century, when remnants of the iwi (tribe) Kāti Māmoe fled into the area following a Ngāi Tahu conquest of the South Island, constructing a pā on Matauira in neighbouring Rakituma / Preservation Inlet.

Cook did not enter the fiord, owing to poor weather conditions, and sailed past en route to Tamatea / Dusky Sound.

[15] Notes from Edwardson's visits were incorporated into a comprehensive account of the region by Jules de Blosseville, part of an 1826 French expedition.

Sealers frequented the Fiordland coast throughout the 1820s, although this came to a quick end due to severe depletion of the seal populations making the activities uneconomic.

One of the first accounts of the geological composition of the region was made by the ship's surgeon, who noted the occurrence of pink granite and the presence of coal.

Further expeditions by other Europeans into the 1860s and 1870s built on this work, identifying with greater detail the distribution of potentially valuable resources within the region.

Burton travelled extensively within Fiordland (as well as the rest of New Zealand) and made several trips during his career by both land (on horseback) and sea.

[14] As with the rest of New Zealand, a number of invasive species – including stoats, rats and possums – have been found in the area around the fiord.

[24] More than 100 stoat traps were set on the island in response to the sighting, with staff from the Department of Conservation seeking to capture it as part of wider pest control efforts in Fiordland.

This has allowed the islands to become a sanctuary for many native species which have been reintroduced to the area since 2002, including the mōhua, orange-fronted kākāriki, little spotted kiwi, and tīeke.