French Pass (; officially Te Aumiti / French Pass) is a narrow and treacherous stretch of water that separates

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, ...

, at the north end of the

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 ...

of New Zealand, from the mainland coast. At one end is

Tasman Bay Tasman Bay (; officially Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere), originally known in English as Blind Bay, is a large V-shaped bay at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. Located in the centre of the island's northern coast, it stretches along ...

, and at the other end the outer

Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere is the largest of the Sound (geography), sounds which make up the Marlborough Sounds at the north of the South Island, New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds is a system of drowned river valleys, which were formed after th ...

leads out to

Cook Strait Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A H, ...

. French Pass has the fastest

tidal flow Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

s in New Zealand, reaching 8

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...

(4 m/s). When the tide changes, the current can be strong enough to stun fish. The local tribes are

Ngāti Koata Ngāti Koata or Ngāti Kōata is a Māori iwi of New Zealand, originating on the west coast of Waikato, but now mainly at the northern tip of South Island. Ngāti Koata whakapapa back to Koata who lived near Kāwhia in the 17th century. She had ...

and

Ngāti Kuia Ngāti Kuia is a Māori iwi of the Northern South Island in New Zealand. They first settled in the Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere, and later spread to the Marlborough Sounds, Nelson and Tasman districts to Taitapu on the West Coast, and as far south ...

History

In the

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

of some

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

tribes, Te Aumiti (French Pass) is the resting place of

Kupe Kupe ( ~1180-1320) was a legendary Polynesian explorer, navigator and great rangatira of Hawaiki, who is said to have been the first human to discover New Zealand. Whether Kupe existed historically is likely but difficult to confirm. He is ge ...

's pet

king shag The New Zealand king shag (''Leucocarbo carunculatus''), also known as the rough-faced shag, king shag or kawau, is a rare bird endemic to New Zealand. Some taxonomic authorities, including the International Ornithologists' Union, place this spe ...

, called Te Kawau-a-Toru. Kupe was a pioneer Polynesian navigator who discovered

in his canoe. While he was exploring Cook Strait, Kupe was attacked by a giant octopus. In the furious battle to kill the octopus, the coast was gouged into the convoluted shapes that today make up the Sounds. Kupe's loyal shag then led Kupe to the French Pass passage, and explored the area on Kupe's behalf. Te Kawau-a-Toru had a huge wingspan, and was reputed to be a sacred bird with "the eye of the ancestor", insight into ancient knowledge. However, while testing the channel to see if it was safe for Kupe's canoe, Te Kawau-a-Toru got caught in the tidal rip, broke a wing and drowned. The broken reef adjacent to the channel is Kupe's loyal bird turned to stone – Te Aumiti a te Kawau-a-Toru (the currents that swallowed Toru's shag). A nearby rocky point where a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

now stands is the bird's petrified bones. The first recorded European navigation of the pass occurred in 1827. Admiral

Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French explorer and naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica. As a botanist and cartographer, he gave his nam ...

navigated the pass during his second voyage to New Zealand, in the French Navy

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

''Astrolabe''. Approaching the narrowest part of the pass, the vessel swung sideward and did not respond to steerage. The corvette struck rocks twice, and was then washed over the reef and into Admiralty Bay. The high energy and complexity of the location was summed up by d'Urville suggesting that no one should attempt to navigate French Pass except in extreme emergency. In 1888, a

Risso's dolphin Risso's dolphin (''Grampus griseus'') is a dolphin, the only species of the genus ''Grampus''. Some of the closest related species to these dolphins include: pilot whales (''Globicephala'' spp.), pygmy killer whales (''Feresa attenuata''), melon ...

appeared in the area. For the next 24 years, this dolphin accompanied boats to and from French Pass. He became famous as

Pelorus Jack Pelorus Jack (fl. 1888 – April 1912) was a Risso's dolphin (''Grampus griseus'') that was famous for meeting and escorting ships through a stretch of water in Cook Strait, New Zealand. The animal was reported over a 24 year period, from ...

and was the first dolphin in the world to receive the protection of the law. Pelorus Jack stayed in the Pelorus Sounds, and did not navigate the pass into Tasman Bay. He would meet boats as they came out of the pass, riding their bow waves for to Pelorus Sound. Then he would join boats returning to Nelson at the entrance to

and escort them back to the pass. Pelorus Jack was last seen in April 1912. The lightkeeper at French Pass claimed he found the body of Pelorus Jack decomposing on the shore. In August 2014, the name of French Pass was officially altered to Te Aumiti / French Pass.

Tidal flows

The pass is across, but the main navigation channel (the "throat" or "narrows") contracts down to only with a deep

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

ing region. Most of the rest of the pass is broken reef. On one side is Cook Strait with a

tidal range Tidal range is the difference in height between high tide and low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and Sun and the rotation of Earth. Tidal range depends on time and location. ...

up to , and on the other side is Tasman Bay with a tidal range up to . This can result in substantial pressure gradients across the pass, complicated by a

phase Phase or phases may refer to: Science *State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist *Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform * Phase space, a mathematic ...

or time difference of about 25 minutes between the high tides on either side. Peak flow in the throat of the pass is around . Near to the pass are deep holes where strong vertical flows can occur. In 2000, student divers taking part in a drift dive during the local ebb flow were separated from their surface float and caught in a whirlpool. This dragged them into "Jacob's Hole", a deep depression south west of the pass. The depth of this descent resulted in multiple fatalities. The group appears to have been drawn deep into the hole and then returned to the surface again. A dive computer record of one of the survivors show a depth of up to . According to the coroner's report, the accident occurred on a falling tide, so the current was flowing from the south west to the north east.

French Pass / Anaru

French Pass / Anaru is an unofficial name for the settlement south of French Pass, which has been in use since at least 1980. It was formerly Anaru. There is a short walk to a lookout overlooking the channel and a campground, with a boat ramp and jetty. The road to French Pass / Anaru is about from SH6, much of it unsealed and with sharp bends.

Notes

References

* Baldwin O (1979) ''The story of New Zealand’s French Pass and d’Urville Island.'' Fields Publishing House, Plimmerton. * Stevens C and Sutton P (2007
''Measuring Tidal Currents near Cook Strait''
ADCP Flow * Stevens C, Sutton P, Smith and Dickson R (2008
''Tidal flows in Te Aumiti (French Pass), South Island, New Zealand''
NZ Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research.

External links

Te Aumiti (French Pass) Tidal Stream
- Land Information new Zealand * McNab, Robert (1909) ''Murihiku: A History of the South Island of New Zealand and the Islands Adjacent and Lying to the South, from 1642 to 1835:'

Whitcomb & Tombs, Wellington. {{DEFAULTSORT:Te Aumiti French Pass Straits of New Zealand Marlborough Sounds Populated places in the Marlborough Sounds Tasman Bay