Foveaux Strait
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Foveaux Strait, (, or , ) separates Stewart Island,
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 ...
's third largest island, from 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 ...
. The strait is about 130 km long (from Ruapuke Island to Little Solander Island), and it widens (from 14 km at
Ruapuke Island Ruapuke Island is one of the southernmost islands in New Zealand's main chain of islands. It lies to the southeast of Bluff and northeast of Oban on Stewart Island/Rakiura. It was named "Bench Island" upon its discovery by Captain James Cook ...
to 50 km at
Te Waewae Bay Te Waewae Bay is the westernmost of three large bays lying on the Foveaux Strait coast of Southland, New Zealand, the others being Oreti Beach and Toetoes Bay. Twenty-seven kilometres in length, the western end of the bay is mountainous, with ...
) and deepens (from 20 to 120 m) from east to west. The strait lies within the continental shelf area of New Zealand, and was probably dry land during the
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
epoch. Three large bays,
Te Waewae Bay Te Waewae Bay is the westernmost of three large bays lying on the Foveaux Strait coast of Southland, New Zealand, the others being Oreti Beach and Toetoes Bay. Twenty-seven kilometres in length, the western end of the bay is mountainous, with ...
,
Oreti Beach Oreti Beach is the central bay of three lying on the Foveaux Strait coast of Southland, New Zealand, the others being Te Waewae Bay and Toetoes Bay. Twenty-six kilometres in length, the bay lies between the town of Riverton and the outflow of th ...
and
Toetoes Bay Toetoes Bay is the easternmost of three large bays lying on the Foveaux Strait coast of Southland, New Zealand, the others being Te Waewae Bay and Oreti Beach. The 240 km Mataura River drains to sea at Toetoes Bay, first passing through the ...
, sweep along the strait's northern coast, which also hosts
Bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New ...
township and harbour. Across the strait lie the
Solander Islands The Solander Islands / Hautere are three uninhabited volcanic islets toward the western end of the Foveaux Strait just beyond New Zealand's South Island. The Māori name ''Hautere'' translates into English as "flying wind". The islands lie so ...
, Stewart Island, Dog Island and
Ruapuke Island Ruapuke Island is one of the southernmost islands in New Zealand's main chain of islands. It lies to the southeast of Bluff and northeast of Oban on Stewart Island/Rakiura. It was named "Bench Island" upon its discovery by Captain James Cook ...
. According to a Maori legend, the strait was created by Kewa the obedient whale when traditional Maori ancestor Kiwa summoned the whale to create a waterway.


History

During the Last Glacial Period when sea levels were over 100 metres lower than current levels, the South Island and Stewart Island were connected by a coastal plain. After sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, the modern Foveaux Strait was created and the islands were separated. Margaret Cameron-Ash claims that James Cook sighted Foveaux Strait during his circumnavigation of the South Island in March 1770, but hid his discovery for reasons of military and colonial policy. Mawer, however, argues that it is more likely that Cook simply made an error, as his focus was on finding the southern extent of New Zealand, and conditions were unfavourable for more closely exploring the possible strait. The strait was first charted by
Owen Folger Smith Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...
, a New Yorker who had been in Sydney Harbour with
Eber Bunker Eber Bunker (1761–1836) was a sea captain and pastoralist, and he was born on 7 March 1761 at Plymouth, Massachusetts. He commanded one of the first vessels to go whaling and sealing off the coast of Australia. His parents were James Bunker ...
from whom he probably learned of the eastern seal fishery. Smith charted the strait in the whaleboat of the sealing brig ''Union'' (out of New York) in 1804 and on his 1806 chart it was called Smith's Straits. This chart was given to Governor
Philip Gidley King Captain Philip Gidley King (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was a British politician who was the third Governor of New South Wales. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detailed to colonise Norfolk Island for defence ...
, who did not make it public, even though he was duty bound to communicate all hydrographic discoveries to the Admiralty. The sealing brig ''Pegasus'', commanded by
Eber Bunker Eber Bunker (1761–1836) was a sea captain and pastoralist, and he was born on 7 March 1761 at Plymouth, Massachusetts. He commanded one of the first vessels to go whaling and sealing off the coast of Australia. His parents were James Bunker ...
, ran aground in the strait in 1809, and in the report on this in the ''
Sydney Gazette ''The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser'' was the first newspaper printed in Australia, running from 5 March 1803 until 20 October 1842. It was a semi-official publication of the government of New South Wales, authorised by Governo ...
'', the strait was called Foveaux Strait, after
Joseph Foveaux Joseph Foveaux (1767 – 20 March 1846) was a soldier and convict settlement administrator in colonial New South Wales, Australia. Early life Foveaux was baptised on 6 April 1767 at Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England, the sixth child of Joseph Fove ...
, Lieutenant-Governor of
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
in 1808–1809. Whaling stations operated on the shores of the strait in the nineteenth century. Foveaux Strait is home to the
Bluff oyster The dredge oyster, bluff oyster or Chilean oyster (''Ostrea chilensis''), is also known in Chile as ''ostra verde'', is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Ostreidae. This species of flat oyster is a marine bivalve mollusc of the fa ...
fishery, the oysters are harvested by a fleet of dredging boats - mostly operating from
Bluff Harbour The entrance to Bluff Harbour viewed from the International Space Station in 2008, with Foveaux Strait at bottom. The town of Bluff, New Zealand">Bluff sits on the north shore of the Bluff promontory, lower left, with the angular form of Island H ...
in the South Island - between March and August each year. Oystering began on Stewart Island during the 1860s, and gradually moved into the strait with the discovery of larger oyster beds there in 1879. The strait is a rough and often treacherous stretch of water. In 2006, six muttonbirders died when their trawler sank while returning to
Bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New ...
. From the years 1998 to 2012 there were a total of 23 fatalities in the Strait. John van Leeuwen swam it on 7 February 1963, in a time of 13 hours 40 minutes.


References

{{Authority control Straits of New Zealand Landforms of Southland, New Zealand Stewart Island Whaling stations in New Zealand