Let's Get a Few Things Strait Trivia Quiz

Answer: Menai Strait

This strait is crossed by bridges twice and a stretch of the waterway between the two is a notably dangerous area called The Swellies. It is known for whirlpools and surges.

An annual swimming race takes place across the Menai Strait, from the island of Anglesey to Caernarfon on the Welsh mainland, and is about a mile-long swim.

Answer: Antarctica

Despite being a rough passageway, the Drake Passage (or Sea of Hoces) is a preferred southern route between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans because of the narrowness of the only other available routes. These are the Strait of Magellan and the Beagle Channel, which can be icebound or hard to maneuver in during strong winds.

Though "Drake Passage" is named for the English navigator Sir Francis Drake who passed through it in the late 16th century, it is thought that the crew of Spanish navigator Francisco de Hoces could have made the same voyage 50 years earlier. Thus, Latin American sources sometimes refer to it as "Mar de Hoces", meaning "Sea of Hoces".

Answer: Torres Strait

The Torres Strait separates Australia's Cape York Peninsula from Papua New Guinea's Western Province. The distance between the two land masses across this strait can be as short as about 150 km (93 mi). It is relatively shallow and can be dangerous to navigate due to the presence of over 270 islands.

Its first recorded visit by a European was by the Spanish Luis Váez de Torres in 1605, although it wasn't until the 1770s that a Scottish geographer by the name of Alexander Dalrymple would come across the record of this visit by Torres and name the strait after him.

Answer: Otranto

The Strait of Otranto, between Italy and Albania to be specific, takes its name from the Italian town of Otranto. Located on the Salento peninsula (or Italy's boot heel), Otranto is home to the easternmost point of mainland Italy, marked by the lighthouse "Faro della Palascia".

The town also lends its name to what is considered the first gothic novel, "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole, written in 1764.

Answer: Cook

Cook Strait was once called Zeehaen's Bight, after a ship in the expedition of Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who had mistaken it for a bight, or bay, in 1642. By 1769, Captain James Cook discovered that it was actually a navigable waterway.

A dolphin by the name of Pelorus Jack became famous between 1888 and 1912 for escorting ships across the strait. There was an attempt on his life which led to his being protected by New Zealand law passed in 1904.

Answer: Hokkaido & Honshu

The Tsugaru Strait shares its name with the Tsugaru Peninsula, which projects into the strait from the northern tip of the island Honshu. It is from this peninsula to the island of Hokkaido that the 53.85 km (33.46 mi) Seikan Tunnel runs at a maximum depth of 240 m (790 ft) below sea level.

It is the world's deepest operational rail tunnel and the longest in the world until the opening of Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland in the year 2016.

Answer: Kerch

The name comes from the city of Kerch, one of Ukraine's most ancient, which is located on the Kerch Peninsula. The peninsula is the eastern extension of the region and peninsula by the name of Crimea. These land masses keep the Sea of Azov (the world's most shallow sea) separated from the Black Sea, allowing them to meet only at the 4.5 km (2.8 mi) wide Strait of Kerch.

Answer: Indonesia

As an archipelago home to over 17,500 islands, it's no surprise Indonesia would have quite a few significant straits. The Sunda Strait is between the large islands of Sumatra and Java, the latter being the most populous island in the world. The island and volcano Krakatoa is found right in the middle of this strait, which can be difficult to navigate due to the many islands found along the way.

The 1883 explosion of the Krakatoa island was reportedly heard about 4800 km (3000 mi) away and is considered the loudest sound heard in modern history.

Answer: Newfoundland

The strait takes its name from a tiny uninhabited island, Belle Isle, which is located north of Newfoundland's tip and faces the strait. Its name is French for "Beautiful Island". Newfoundland has a long history of being come upon by Europeans, including by Captain James Cook and Leif Ericson. L'Anse aux Meadows, or "Jellyfish Cove", is believed to have been a settlement made by Ericson and is the only such known site in all of North America, excluding Greenland.

Answer: Matochkin

The two islands which this strait separates are the Severny (northern) and Yuzhny (southern) islands which, along with the entire Novaya Zemlya ("New Land") archipelago, belong to Russia. This area has been known as the site of nuclear testing, particularly over 220 nuclear detonations. Even the strait itself has been home to hydronuclear experiments. Perhaps the most significant testing occurred in 1961 when the world's largest and most powerful nuclear weapon, nicknamed Tsar Bomba, exploded on the archipelago.