Lake Taupō, the largest lake in New Zealand, is about the size of Singapore. The Hawaiians distinguished between coastal waters and open waters because in thei

Lake Taupō, the largest lake in New Zealand, is about the size of Singapore. The Hawaiians distinguished between coastal waters and open waters because in their archipelago of far smaller and more numerous islands, the distinction between the two was important. Think currents, waves, depth. And I guess I failed to adequately make my point, but I'll try again - when the Polynesians who would become the Māori reached New Zealand, the far larger islands they now inhabited lead them to focus far less on oceanic travel as they pivoted to a focus on the land and rivers they now inhabited. So a big lake was effectively the same as the ocean for them - a big body of water.