D'Urville Island
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D'Urville Island is an island in the Marlborough Sounds along the northern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It was named after the French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville. With an area of approximately 150 square kilometres, it is the eighth-largest island of New Zealand.
The original/Māori name is Rangitoto Ki Te Tonga. The local tribes are Ngāti Koata and Ngāti Kuia.
The island is separated from the mainland by the dangerous French Pass, known to Māori as Te Aumiti, through which water passes at up to eight knots (14 km/h) at each tide. Several vortices occur near this passage. D'Urville investigated the passage for several days in 1827, and damaged his ship passing through it.
See also
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