Editing Cook Strait (section)

==History==
{{See also|Te Whanganui-a-Tara#Legend of Whanganui-a-Tara|l1=The legend of Whanganui-a-Tara}}

In [[Māori mythology|Māori legend]], Cook Strait was discovered by [[Kupe]] the navigator. Kupe followed in his canoe a monstrous octopus called [[Te Wheke-a-Muturangi]] across Cook Strait and destroyed it in [[Tory Channel]] or at [[Pātea]].

When Dutch explorer [[Abel Tasman]] first saw New Zealand in 1642, he thought Cook Strait was a [[Bight (geography)|bight]] closed to the east. He named it ''Zeehaen's Bight'', after the ''Zeehaen'', one of the two ships in his expedition. In 1769 James Cook established that it was a [[strait]], which formed a navigable waterway.{{cn|date=August 2024}}

Cook Strait attracted European settlers in the early 19th century. Because of its use as a [[whale]] migration route, [[whaler]]s established bases in the [[Marlborough Sounds]], based out of Tory Channel and [[Port Underwood]], and also in the [[Kāpiti Coast|Kāpiti]] area.<ref>McNab, Robert (1913). [https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-McNOldW-t1-front-d4.html ''A History of Southern New Zealand from 1830 to 1840'']. [[Whitcombe and Tombs Limited]]. ASIN B000881KT4.</ref><ref>Martin, Stephen (2001). ''The Whales' Journey'': [https://archive.org/details/whalesjourney0000mart/page/100 Chapter 4: The northerly migration]. [[Allen & Unwin]]. {{ISBN|978-1-86508-232-5}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Phillips |first=Jock |title=Shore-based whaling |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/whaling/page-2 |access-date=28 January 2025 |website=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |language=en-NZ}}</ref> From the late 1820s until the mid-1960s [[Arapaoa Island]] was a base for whaling in the Sounds. Perano Head on the east coast of the island was the principal whaling station for the area from 1911.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Perano Whaling Station |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/perano-whaling-station |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=nzhistory.govt.nz}}</ref> The houses built by the Perano family are now operated as tourist accommodation.<ref>[http://www.arapawahomestead.co.nz/ Perano Homestead].</ref>

During the 1820s [[Te Rauparaha]] led a Māori migration to, and the conquest and settlement of, the Cook Strait region. In 1822 [[Ngāti Toa]] migrated to Cook Strait region, led by [[Te Rauparaha]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} 

From 1840 more permanent settlements sprang up, first at Wellington, then at [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]] and at [[Whanganui]] (Petre). At this period the settlers saw Cook Strait in a broader sense than today's ferry-oriented New Zealanders: for them the strait stretched from [[Taranaki]] to [[Cape Campbell]], so these early towns all clustered around "Cook Strait" (or "Cook's Strait", in the pre-Geographic Board usage of the times) as the central feature and central waterway of the new colony.

[[File:Pelorus Jack.jpg|thumb|100px|[[Pelorus Jack]]]]
Between 1888 and 1912 a [[Risso's dolphin]] named [[Pelorus Jack]] became famous for meeting and escorting ships around Cook Strait. Pelorus Jack was usually spotted in Admiralty Bay between Cape Francis and Collinet Point, near [[D'Urville Island, New Zealand|French Pass]], a channel used by ships travelling between [[Wellington]] and Nelson. Pelorus Jack is also remembered after he was the subject of a failed assassination attempt. He was later protected by a 1904 New Zealand law.<ref>{{Cite web |editor-last=A. H. |editor-first=McLintock |title=Pelorus Jack |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/pelorus-jack |access-date=28 January 2025 |website=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |language=en-NZ}}</ref>

At times when New Zealand feared invasion, various [[Coastal fortifications of New Zealand|coastal fortifications]] were constructed to defend Cook Strait. During the Second World War, two {{cvt|23|cm}} gun installations were constructed on [[Wrights Hill Fortress|Wrights Hill]] behind Wellington. These guns could range {{convert|28|km}} across Cook Strait. In addition thirteen {{cvt|15|cm|0}} gun installations were constructed around Wellington, along the [[Mākara]] coast, and at entrances to the Marlborough Sounds. The remains of most of these fortifications can still be seen.

The [[Pencarrow Head Lighthouse]] at the entrance from Cook Strait to [[Wellington Harbour]] was the first permanent lighthouse built in New Zealand. Its first keeper, Mary Jane Bennett, was the only female lighthouse keeper in New Zealand's history. The light was decommissioned in 1935 when it was replaced by the [[Baring Head Lighthouse]].