Te Puaitaha / Breaksea Sound is a small

fiord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the no ...

on the southwestern coast of

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

, New Zealand in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

. Breaksea Island in

Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park is a national park in the south-west corner of South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 13 National parks of New Zealand, national parks in New Zealand, with an area covering , and a major part of the Te W� ...

lies at its entrance. In the 1850s, early settlers Henry Hirst and John Watts-Russell explored the area for flat land suitable for sheep farming, but they were unsuccessful. In October 2019, the name of the fiord was officially altered to Te Puaitaha / Breaksea Sound.

Gallery

Breaksea_Island_Fiordland_New_Zealand_Aotearoa.jpg, Breaksea Island at the entry to Te Puaitaha / Breaksea Sound. Bleached Sea Sponges found in New Zealand waters.jpg, 2022 satellite image of Te Puaitaha / Breaksea Sound, showing bleached

sea sponge Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and are o ...

s The Narrows, Breaksea Sound. S.S. Stella (48752563372) (cropped).jpg, 19th century sketch of the Narrows in Breaksea Sound by

Charles Heaphy Charles Heaphy VC (1820 – 3 August 1881) was an English-born New Zealand explorer and recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest military award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that could be awarded to British and Empire forc ...

References

Fiords of New Zealand Sounds of Fiordland Fiordland National Park {{fjord-stub