  Depuch Island Location of Depuch Island in Western Australia | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Indian Ocean |
| Coordinates | 20°37′54″S117°43′27″E / 20.63167°S 117.72417°E |
| Administration | |
| State | Western Australia |
| LGA | City of Karratha |
Depuch Island (or Warmalana) is a volcanic island located off the north-west coast of Western Australia's Pilbara region, near Port Hedland.
The island is of cultural importance to the Ngaluma Aboriginal people, who know it as Warmalana. [1] According to Ngaluma legend, the island was formed during the Dreaming when Matalga, a leading Pilbara spirit man, lifted a large rock and threw it into the sea. The rocks and boulders of the island are covered with Aboriginal engravings and rock art. [2]
The island was charted in July 1801 by François-Michel Ronsard, the cartographer on a French expedition led by explorer Nicolas Baudin on board the ship Le Géographe. The island was named Ile Depuch after Louis Depuch, a mineralogist on Baudin's expedition. After a visit to the island, Ronsard established that it was volcanic, and was the first evidence of volcanic activity on the Australian continent the expedition had discovered. [3]
In 1912, a Norwegian steel sailing ship, the Crown of England, was shipwrecked as it lay anchored on the island loading copper ore, after the area was struck by a cyclone. Many other ships were sunk in the area, such as the passenger liner SS Koombana. [4] The newly built tug SS Wyola sailing for Fremantle was despatched to rescue the barque Concordia which was left grounded by the storm. [5]
The discovery of iron ore deposits in the Pilbara region during the early 1960s saw Depuch Island considered for use as a port for the mining facilities being established in the area. In 1962, however, a survey by the Western Australian Museum discovered thousands of Aboriginal engravings, and the port was moved to the Dampier Archipelago. [6]
The maritime European exploration of Australia consisted of several waves of European seafarers who sailed the edges of the Australian continent. Dutch navigators were the first Europeans known to have explored and mapped the Australian coastline. The first documented encounter was that of Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, in 1606. Dutch seafarers also visited the west and north coasts of the continent, as did French explorers.
William Dampier was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnavigate the world three times. He has also been described as Australia's first natural historian, as well as one of the most important British explorers of the period between Sir Francis Drake and Captain James Cook ; he "bridged those two eras" with a mix of piratical derring-do of the former and scientific inquiry of the latter. His expeditions were among the first to identify and name a number of plants, animals, foods, and cooking techniques for a European audience, being among the first English writers to use words such as avocado, barbecue, and chopsticks. In describing the preparation of avocados, he was the first European to describe the making of guacamole, named the breadfruit plant, and made frequent documentation of the taste of numerous foods foreign to the European palate such as flamingo and manatee.
The human history of Western Australia commenced between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago with the arrival of Aboriginal Australians on the northwest coast. The first inhabitants expanded across the east and south of the continent.
Dampier is a major industrial port in the Pilbara region in the northwest of Western Australia. It is located near the city of Karratha and Port Walcott.
The Pilbara is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a global biodiversity hotspot for subterranean fauna.
The Dampier Archipelago is a group of 42 islands near the town of Dampier in Pilbara, Western Australia.
Over 1400 ships have been wrecked on the coast of Western Australia. This relatively large number of shipwrecks is due to a number of factors, including:
SS Koombana was a passenger steamship that was built in Scotland in 1908 for the Adelaide Steamship Company, for coastal liner services between Fremantle and the northwest coast of Western Australia. She sank in a tropical cyclone somewhere off Port Hedland in 1912, with the loss of all 150 people aboard. Her loss was one of Australia's worst weather-related maritime disasters in the twentieth century.
Murujuga, formerly known as Dampier Island and today usually known as the Burrup Peninsula, is an area in the Dampier Archipelago, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, containing the town of Dampier. The Dampier Rock Art Precinct, which covers the entire archipelago, is the subject of ongoing political debate due to historical and proposed industrial development. Over 40% of Murujuga lies within Murujuga National Park, which contains within it the world's largest collection of ancient 40,000 year old rock art (petroglyphs).
Western Australia has the longest coastline of any state or territory in Australia, at 10,194 km or 12,889 km. It is a significant portion of the coastline of Australia, which is 35,877 km.
Walga Rock, also known as Walgahna Rock and Walganna Rock, is a granite monolith situated about 48 kilometres (30 mi) west of Cue, Western Australia, within the Austin Downs pastoral lease. It is one of the largest granite monoliths in Australia.
SS Xantho was a steam ship used in the colony of Western Australia as a pearling transport and mothership, as a tramp steamer, carrying passengers, including Aboriginal convicts and trade goods before she sank at Port Gregory, Western Australia in 1872. She was powered by a horizontal trunk engine.
Cape Lambert is a port facility operated by Rio Tinto Iron Ore in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is located 40 kilometres north-east of Karratha.
Iron ore mining in Western Australia, in the 2018–19 financial year, accounted for 54 percent of the total value of the state's resource production, with a value of A$78.2 billion. The overall value of the minerals and petroleum industry in Western Australia was A$145 billion in 2018–19, a 26 percent increase on the previous financial year.
Dolphin Island is an island situated in the Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Visitors are able to camp within 100 metres (328 ft) of the high water mark on all of the beaches on the island except for the south eastern side.
Rosemary Island is an island in the Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. With Enderby Island it forms Class A Nature Reserve 36915, part of a proposed national park.
Port Walcott, formerly known as Tien Tsin Harbour, is a large open water harbour located on the northwest coast of Western Australia, located near the town of Point Samson.
The Pilbara Coast is the coastline of Western Australia's Pilbara region. It is often referred to as the North West Coast of Western Australia.
The Yapurarra or Jaburara, also rendered Yaburara, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands are in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and the Dampier Archipelago.
Glenbank was a steel-hulled sailing ship launched in 1893 at Port Glasgow. A cyclone wrecked her off Legendre Island 4 January 1911, killing all but one of her crew.
