Beagle Gulf

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Beagle Gulf
Australia Northern Territory relief location map.png
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Beagle Gulf
Coordinates 12°09′37″S130°29′23″E / 12.16028°S 130.48972°E / -12.16028; 130.48972 Coordinates: 12°09′37″S130°29′23″E / 12.16028°S 130.48972°E / -12.16028; 130.48972
Type Gulf
Etymology HMS Beagle
Basin  countriesAustralia

Beagle Gulf is a gulf in the Northern Territory of Australia which opens on its west side to the Timor Sea. The gulf is bounded to the south by the mainland and to the north by Bathurst and Melville Islands. It is connected to Van Diemen Gulf in the east by Clarence Strait. Its south coast includes the natural harbours of Darwin and Bynoe. It is approximately 100 km long and 50 km wide. [1] It surrounds the Quail Island Group.

Contents

Name

HMS Beagle HMS Beagle full sail.jpg
HMS Beagle

Beagle Gulf was named after the ship HMS Beagle, on which Charles Darwin and Robert Fitzroy sailed around parts of Australia. The Cambridge Dictionary of Australian Places incorrectly states that "it was named in 1836 by Robert Fitzroy, commander of HMS Beagle, after his ship. The Beagle charted the area with Charles Darwin aboard as naturalist." However, Darwin and Fitzroy sailed in 1836 from King George's Sound (Western Australia) directly to the Cocos-Keeling Islands, at the south coast of Java, and from there to Cape Town and back to England. They stayed away from Beagle Gulf by 3000 sea miles and did not know of its existence. [2] The gulf was actually named by Captain John Clements Wickham, commanding HMS Beagle during its survey of northern Australia in 1837-1838, at the beginning of her third and last long voyage.

Protection

In 1991 the Northern Territory Government proposed the formation of the Beagle Gulf Marine Park. The proposed Marine Park has a significant commercial, recreational conservation value. Zoning plans enable the broadest possible use of marine parks whilst providing for the protection and conservation of significant ecological, scientific, historical, cultural and scenic sites. [3]

Administrative status

On 4 April 2007, most of the area occupied by the Beagle Gulf was gazetted by the Northern Territory Government as a locality with the name, Beagle Gulf. The locality has not been added to any existing local government area and is considered to be part of the Northern Territory's unincorporated areas. [4] [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

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Darwin Harbour

Darwin Harbour is the body of water close to Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It opens to the north at a line from Charles Point in the west to Lee Point in the east into the Beagle Gulf and connects via the Clarence Strait with the Van Diemen Gulf. It contains Port Darwin, which is flanked by Frances Bay to the east and Cullen Bay to the west.

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Van Diemen Gulf

Van Diemen Gulf is a gulf in the Northern Territory of Australia. It connects to the Timor Sea in the north via Dundas Strait. Most of its area is also gazetted as a locality with the name Van Diemen Gulf.

Clarence Strait (Northern Territory)

Clarence Strait in northern Australia separates Melville Island from the mainland of Australia. It also connects the Beagle Gulf in the west to the Van Diemen Gulf in the east. It is approximately 50 km (31 mi) north of the city of Darwin.

John Clements Wickham

John Clements Wickham was a Scottish explorer, naval officer, magistrate and administrator. He was first officer on HMS Beagle during its second survey mission, 1831–1836, under captain Robert FitzRoy. The young naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin was a supernumerary on the ship, and his journal was published as The Voyage of the Beagle. After that expedition, Wickham was promoted to Commander and made captain of the Beagle on its third voyage, from 1837 and conducted various maritime expeditions and hydrographic surveys along the Australian coastline.

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Second voyage of HMS <i>Beagle</i>

The second voyage of HMS Beagle, from 27 December 1831 to 2 October 1836, was the second survey expedition of HMS Beagle, under captain Robert FitzRoy who had taken over command of the ship on its first voyage after the previous captain, Pringle Stokes, committed suicide. FitzRoy had thought of the advantages of having someone onboard who could investigate geology, and sought a naturalist to accompany them as a supernumerary. At the age of 22, the graduate Charles Darwin hoped to see the tropics before becoming a parson and accepted the opportunity. He was greatly influenced by reading Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology during the voyage. By the end of the expedition, Darwin had made his name as a geologist and fossil collector and the publication of his journal gave him wide renown as a writer.

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Ships chronometer from HMS <i>Beagle</i>

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Quail Island (Northern Territory)

Quail Island is an island in the Northern Territory of Australia in the Beagle Gulf about 40 kilometres (25 mi) from the territory capital of Darwin.

Shoal Bay, Northern Territory Suburb of Darwin, the Northern Territory, Australia

Shoal Bay is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of the territory capital of Darwin.

Hotham, Northern Territory Suburb of unincorporated area, the Northern Territory, Australia

Hotham is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 62 kilometres (39 mi) east of the territorial capital of Darwin.

Vernon Islands, Northern Territory Suburb of unincorporated area , the Northern Territory, Australia

Vernon Islands is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located over land and water in the Clarence Strait including the Vernon Islands and which is located about 55 kilometres (34 mi) north-east of the territory capital of Darwin.

Vernon Islands Conservation Reserve Protected area in the Northern Territory, Australia

Vernon Islands Conservation Reserve is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia located in the locality of Vernon Islands about 50 kilometres (31 mi) north-east of the territory capital of Darwin.

Bynoe Harbour, Northern Territory Suburb of unincorporated area, the Northern Territory, Australia

Bynoe Harbour is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 41 kilometres (25 mi) south-west of the territory capital of Darwin.

Glyde Point, Northern Territory Suburb of Litchfield Municipality, the Northern Territory, Australia

Glyde Point is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 37 kilometres (23 mi) north-east of the territory capital of Darwin.

Vernon Islands

Vernon Islands, also known as the Potinga Islands, is an island group in the Northern Territory of Australia located in the Clarence Strait about 55 kilometres (34 mi) north-east of the territory capital of Darwin. The group consists of three islands which were first sighted in 1818 by Europeans on a British navy ship under the command of Phillip Parker King. The group were part of the subject of a successful aboriginal land claim which was resolved after 40 years in 2018 when the Tiwi people received title. All three islands host navigation aids which assist vessels passing through the Clarence Strait. It and some adjoining seabed have had protected area status since 1974 and which has been known as the Vernon Islands Conservation Reserve since 1979. Since 2007, the island group have been located in the locality of Vernon Islands.

References

  1. ↑ Cambridge Dictionary of Australian Places.
  2. ↑ Alan Powell: Who Named Beagle Gulf?: A Cautionary Tale. Journal of Northern Territory History, No. 22, 2011: 104-108. ISSN   1034-7488. Cited on 29 Oct 2012.
  3. ↑ N Smit, R Billyard and L Ferns: Beagle Gulf Benthic Survey: Characterisation of soft substrates. Archived 2012-03-28 at the Wayback Machine Technical Report No. 66 (2000), Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory.
  4. ↑ "Place Names Register Extract - "Beagle Gulf"". NT Place Names Register. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  5. ↑ "Beagle Gulf". NT Atlas and Spatial Data Directory. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  6. ↑ "Dundee Un-incorporated area - west of Litchfield and Palmerston Municipality". Place Names Committee. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
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