Milford Sound
Water
A fjord in New Zealand where waterfalls drop straight into the sea.
Milford Sound is a fjord on the South Island of New Zealand, about fifteen kilometres long. Glaciers carved it out during the ice ages. The Māori call it Piopiotahi.
Cliffs rise more than a kilometre straight out of the water. It is one of the wettest places on Earth where people live: nearly seven metres of rain falls here every year.
- Mitre Peak, straight up from the water
- 1,692 m
- of rain a year
- 6.7 m
- long
- 15 km
- 1
After heavy rain hundreds of waterfalls appear on the cliffs, and vanish again a few hours later.
- 2
Dolphins, seals and penguins live in the fjord.
- 3
It was named a sound by mistake. A sound is made by a river; this was made by ice, so it is a fjord.
Question 1 of 2
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