For many years, the Cook Strait, with its notoriety, difficult navigation and difficult navigation conditions, has been a very important communication value for the economy and social life of New Zealand.
Legends of the Maori tribes
The New Zealand archipelago, where the Cook Strait is located, is a territory at the end of the world. Due to its remoteness from Eurasia and large islands, this corner of the planet has long remained a secluded place where no human foot has set foot. The first inhabitants - the Maori, who arrived here from Polynesia at the beginning of the second millennium, called the strait between the North and South Islands of the archipelago Raukawa Moana ("Bitter Leaves"). There are many legends associated with this important waterway among the indigenous people. According to one of them, the strait was discovered by the great leader Kup, chasing a huge octopus. A sea monster that causes a lot of problems for the inhabitants of the coast was killed by a brave warrior in the Tori Canal.
On European maps
The first Europeans from the expedition of the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman appeared in this region only in 1642. But serious exploration of the areaspent, almost 130 years later, the outstanding English traveler and cartographer James Cook. For the first time in history, European maps have shown the great barrier reef and Cook Strait (named after a Royal Navy captain), hundreds of miles of the east coast of the Australian continent.
The first settlers from the countries of the Old World appeared on the islands in the 40s of the XΙX century. So the modern cities of Wellington, Nelson, Wanganui were formed. In 1858, the first lighthouse was erected - an eleven-meter cast iron tower of an octagonal shape. Due to the proximity of whale migration routes, until the middle of the last century, many base whaling stations were located on the shores of the strait. The fortifications of the Second World War have survived to this day.
Geographic data
What is Cook Strait? This is a natural navigable artery, formed as a result of tectonic metamorphosis during the last ice age. Connects the waters of the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea. The length is about 107 km. The width varies from 22 to 91 km. The prevailing depth is 80-100 meters, the maximum is 1092 m.
Strong storm winds in the strait are not uncommon. Subtropical oceanic climate prevails. The average temperature in winter is +8˚С, in summer - +16˚С. Precipitation (up to 1445mm/year) falls in the form of rain. Snow falls only in some high mountain areas.
Navigation conditions
The steep coasts of the South and North Islands, with a total lengthmore than 1.2 thousand km, where the Cook Strait is the only gap, form a natural "wind tunnel" in this area. Winds, especially southerly, are capable of accelerating here to frightening speeds. Strong tidal currents and numerous underwater rocks exacerbate the situation. Hundreds of sailors and dozens of ships found their last refuge in the waters of the strait.
The most tragic is the disaster of the TEV Wahine ferry serving the route Wellington - Lyttelton (1968). At that time, 53 people became victims of the deep sea. Notorious is the Cook Strait and the inhabitants of our country. It was here that in February 1986, having run into a pitfall, the Soviet passenger ship "Mikhail Lermontov" sank. All participants of the cruise were rescued. but the mournful list of victims was supplemented by a crew member - mechanic P. Zaglyadimov. Experts are still arguing about what caused the shipwreck - a fatal combination of circumstances or a pilot's mistake.
By the way, the Pelorus-Jack dolphin became the most famous and popular pilot of this water area. The mammal was accidentally killed by a ship's propeller.
Tie thread
The role of the Cook Strait in the social and economic life of the island nation is very difficult to overestimate. There are numerous ferry routes connecting the capital with major cities. For example, traveling from Wellington toPicton (70 km) will take about three hours. According to representatives of the most promising ferry service "Cook Street", its average annual cargo turnover is about a quarter of a million cars and up to 4 million tons of various cargoes. More than a million passengers used the company's services during the same period. Electric power and communication lines are laid along the bottom of the strait.
Often Mother Nature makes her adjustments to the functioning of ferry crossings; due to strong hurricane winds, communication between the islands is interrupted.
Present and future
There has long been a project to build a tunnel under the Cook Strait, with a total length of about 67 km. The main obstacle to the implementation of the idea into a concrete structure is not the high cost of work and structures, but the seismic hazard of the region. Perhaps this is a matter of the near future. It remains to be hoped that the construction of the tunnel will cause the least damage to the pristine beauty of nature and the habitats of unique mammals and fish. The strait has long been favored by cetaceans, dolphin populations, giant squid, fur seals, sharks and jellyfish.
And in conclusion, a little about the records. History knows more than 70 enthusiasts who do not need ferries to cross the strait. Barry Davenport was the first European to swim 16 nautical miles in 1962. It took him 11 hours and 20 minutes to do this. Of the women, the American Lynn Cox was the first to take part in the sea marathon (1975, 12 hours 7 minutes). It is also necessary to mentionNew Zealander Philip Rush, who made eight such swims (two of them occurred on the same day on March 13, 1984).
