Pitt Strait (Indonesia) (a.k.a. Pitt's Strait, Sagewin Strait), falls within the waters of the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n province of

Southwest Papua Southwest Papua ( id, Papua Barat Daya) is a province of Indonesia, and is a fraction of Western New Guinea. Despite being named southwest, it is a misnomer and this province is actually located in the northwest edge of Papua. The area that belo ...

. The strait separates the

Raja Ampat ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested fr ...

islands of

Batanta Batanta is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. Its area is 453 km² and its highest point is 1184 m. The Pitt Strait separates it from Salawati, while the Dampier Strait separat ...

and

Salawati Salawati is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua (formerly West Papua), Indonesia. Its area is 1,623 km2. Salawati is separated from New Guinea to the southeast by the Sele Strait (a.k.a. Galowa Str ...

and links the

Ceram Sea The Seram Sea or Ceram Sea ( id, Laut Seram) is one of several small seas between the scattered islands of Indonesia. It is a section of the Pacific Ocean with an area of approximately located between Buru and Seram, which are two of the isla ...

to the Pacific Ocean. To its west lies Dampier Strait, which separates

island from

Waigeo Waigeo is an island in Southwest Papua province of eastern Indonesia. The island is also known as Amberi, or Waigiu. It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands archipelago, between Halmahera and about to the north-w ...

island. The Sagewin Strait name refers to Sagewin Island, which lies at the south east side of Pitt Strait, close to Salawati.

History

In 1759 Captain William Wilson sailing in the East Indiaman ''Pitt'' navigated these waters and named the channel between Batanta and Salawati Pitt Strait, after his vessel, or equally, her namesake. He also named the two islands King George's Island and Prince of Wales's Island,''Naval Chronicle'' (Jul-Dec 1805), Vol. 14, p.140. but these names did not prove as durable as that of the strait. The area of the Dampier Strait and Pitt Strait are a Marine Protected Area for cetaceans.

Citations

References

* * * * * Straits of Indonesia Landforms of Southwest Papua Landforms of Western New Guinea Straits of the Pacific Ocean {{SwPapua-geo-stub