• The Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.
• The strait was named after George Bass after he and Matthew Flinders passed through it while circumnavigating Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in the Norfolk in 1798-99. At Flinders’ recommendation in 1800, the Governor of New South Wales named the stretch of water between the mainland and Tasmania “Basses Strait”. Later it became known as Bass Strait.

Source: ForumIAS