Tasman Sea

Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea is a body of water separating Australia and New Zealand, with a distance of approximately 2,000 kilometers between them. The maximum depth is approximately 5,200 meters. The Tasman Sea is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The sea is named after Dutch navigator Abel Tasman, the first European to reach Tasmania and New Zealand. English navigator James Cook subsequently explored the Tasman Sea in more detail in the 1770s during his first circumnavigation expedition.

General Information

As defined by the International Hydrographic Organization, the Tasman Sea includes the waters east of the Australian states of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. The northern Australian state of Queensland also borders the Coral Sea, and the continuation of the boundary between Queensland and New South Wales is the boundary between the two seas.

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There are several isolated island groups in the Tasman Sea, which are located quite far away from Australia and New Zealand: Lord Howe and its surrounding islands, Balls Pyramid, Norfolk Island, located in the very north of the Tasman Sea at its theoretical boundary with the Coral Sea All of these island groups belong to Australia.