where is the tasman and coral sea's located

jazzy's picture
jazzy started the topic in Friday, 20 Sep 2013 at 5:28pm

as above and where is the pacific in relation to east coast australia. some reckon pacific is out from burleigh but some say tasman sea is out from ahipara. can you work it out for my friends and i?

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Friday, 20 Sep 2013 at 5:44pm

Good question Jazzy. Easiest source for a quick answer is Wikipedia, who quote the International Hydrographic Organization.

They say the boundary is: "The parallel of 30°S from the Australian coast Eastward as far as a line joining the East extremities of Elizabeth Reef and South East Rock (31°47′S 159°18′E) then to the Southward along this line to the South East Rock [an outlier of Lord Howe Island].

(Then) from the South East Rock to the North point of Three Kings Islands (34°10′S 172°10′E) thence to North Cape in New Zealand."

So, "The parallel of 30°S from the Australian coast" is just north of Coffs Harbour - actually, if you want to get technical it's immediately north of Arrawarra.

If you're after a rough picture, trace a line from Coffs Harbour to about the top of New Zealand's North Island. Anything below this is the Tasman Sea, anything above is the Coral Sea.

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Friday, 20 Sep 2013 at 5:47pm

And as for its reach in the south - draw a line from the south coast of New Zealand's South Island to Auckland Island, then another line from Auckland Island to South East Cape (the southern-most point of Tasmania).