Admiralty Bay is a large indentation in the northern coast of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. It lies close to the northernmost mainland point of the Marlborough Sounds, immediately to the south of

D'Urville Island D'Urville Island (), Māori language, Māori name ' ('red heavens look to the south'), is an island in the Marlborough Sounds along the northern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It was named after the France, French List of explorers, ...

. The bay, one of the larger of numerous bays in the crenellated coast of the sounds, is wide at its mouth and extends south. The peninsula into which it cuts is almost bisected by the bay, with a narrow isthmus only some wide lying between the bay's southernmost extent and Hallam Cove to the south. To the northeast, the bay is open to the waters of Cook Strait, but to the west a narrow and treacherous stretch of water French Pass is the only maritime access. The Bay was named in March 1770 by Lieutenant

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

during his first voyage to the Pacific. Having completed a circumnavigation of New Zealand aboard '' HMS Endeavour'', Cook had the ship anchored in the bay for resupply with wood and water, and remained there from 27–31 March 1770. Cook described the land surrounding the bay as "of a very hilly uneven surface and appears to be mostly covered with wood, shrubs, firns & c. which renders traveling both difficult and fatigueing." There was no evidence of present habitation, but Cook found several huts which seemed to have been long deserted. It was while ''Endeavour'' was anchored in Admiralty Bay that Cook decided to continue exploring westward rather than returning east to England; a consequence of this decision would be his discovery of Australia. Admiralty Bay is now closely associated with Pelorus Jack, a dolphin which became widely known in New Zealand in the first few years of the 20th century. Pelorus Jack was noted for meeting and escorting ships through French Pass, and is possibly the first individual sea creature protected by law in any country.

References

{{coord, 40, 57, 42.31, S, 173, 51, 26.17, E, region:NZ, display=title Bays of the Marlborough Region Marlborough Sounds Populated places in the Marlborough Sounds