The Tasman Sea

This sea is the stretch of water between Australia and New Zealand. It is named after the famous Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman. Who also gave the name to Tasmania. Tasmania is an Island approximately 120 nautical miles south of Melbourne famous for the Tasmanian devil. Abel Tasman being the first European to lay eyes on the Island however gave it the name “Van Diemen Land” after his sponsor in 1642. It was officially renamed in honor of its first European discoverer on 1 January 1856 in Tasmania