In the furious battle to kill the octopus, the coast was gouged into the convoluted shapes that today make up the Sounds.

Te Kawau-a-Toru had a huge wingspan, and was reputed to be a sacred bird with "the eye of the ancestor", insight into ancient knowledge.

[3] However, while testing the channel to see if it was safe for Kupe's canoe, Te Kawau-a-Toru got caught in the tidal rip, broke a wing and drowned.

Admiral Jules Dumont d'Urville navigated the pass during his second voyage to New Zealand, in the French Navy corvette Astrolabe.

The high energy and complexity of the location was summed up by d'Urville suggesting that no one should attempt to navigate French Pass except in extreme emergency.

Then he would join boats returning to Nelson at the entrance to Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere and escort them back to the pass.

[9] This can result in substantial pressure gradients across the pass, complicated by a phase or time difference of about 25 minutes between the high tides on either side.

[11] In 2000, student divers taking part in a drift dive during the local ebb flow were separated from their surface float and caught in a whirlpool.

According to the coroner's report, the accident occurred on a falling tide, so the current was flowing from the south west to the north east.