Cook Strait Cook Strait Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. It connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast, and runs next to the capital city, Wellington. It is wide at its narrowest point, and is considered one of the most dangerous and unpredictable waters in the world. The strait is named after James Cook, the first European commander to sail through it, in 1770. In Māori it has the name "Raukawa" or "Te Moana-o-Raukawa". "Raukawa" may mean "bitter leaves". In Māori legend, Cook Strait
New Zealand mole cricket New Zealand mole cricket The New Zealand mole cricket ("Triamescaptor aotea") is a wingless member of the mole cricket family Gryllotalpidae. Endemic to New Zealand, it lives underground and is rarely seen. It is now restricted to parts of the southern North Island. The mole cricket was well known to Māori, who encountered it when cultivating garden plots and called it honi. Mole crickets collected in New Zealand were assumed to be the European species "Gryllotalpa vulgaris" (a synonym of "Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa"), which has a wingless nymph that resembles the adult New Zealand species. "Triamescaptor aotea" was named and described