The Daly River is a river in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. Settlement on the river is centred on the
Aboriginal community of
Nauiyu, originally the site of a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
mission, as well as the town of
Daly River itself, at the river crossing a few kilometres to the south. The Daly River is part of the Daly Catchment that flows from northern Northern Territory to central Northern Territory.
The Daly River flows from the confluence of the
Flora River and
Katherine River to its mouth on the
Timor Sea
The Timor Sea ( id, Laut Timor, pt, Mar de Timor, tet, Tasi Mane or ) is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, and to the south by Australia.
The sea contains a number of reefs ...
.
History
The traditional owners of the area are the
Mulluk-Mulluk people.
Boyle Travers Finniss
Boyle Travers Finniss (18 August 1807 – 24 December 1893) was the first premier of South Australia, serving from 24 October 1856 to 20 August 1857.
Early life
Finniss was born at sea off the Cape of Good Hope, Southern Africa, and lived in ...
named the river after Sir
Dominick Daly
Sir Dominick Daly (11 August 1798 – 19 February 1868) was the Governor of Prince Edward Island from 11 July 1854 to 25 May 1859 and later Governor of South Australia from 4 March 1862 until his death on 19 February 1868.
He was born in ...
, the
Governor of South Australia
The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-gen ...
, as the Northern Territory was at that time part of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
. The region then lay untouched by Europeans until 1882 when
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...
was discovered.
Floods
Like other rivers of the
top end
The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...
, the Daly is prone to seasonal flooding. Major flood events devastated the town of Daly River in 1899 and 1957, causing widespread property damage. In 1998, The floodwaters were fed by heavy rainfall in the wake of
Tropical Cyclone Les and continued to rise until 3 February, reaching a peak of , the highest level recorded to date.
Attractions
The Daly River is famed for its large barramundi and is one of the more popular waterways for recreational fishing. It hosts two major fishing competitions annually, the "Barra Classic" and the "Barra Nationals". The best barramundi fishing is generally just after the wet season when the flooded river is falling fast and clear water is pouring in off the floodplains. The floodwater carries baitfish which in turn attracts predatory barramundi.
The Daly River is home to more
freshwater turtle species than anywhere else in Australia.
Tributaries
*
Katherine River
*
Fish River
*
King River
See also
*
List of rivers of Northern Territory
*
Daly languages
The Daly languages are an areal group of four to five language families of Indigenous Australian languages. They are spoken within the vicinity of the Daly River in the Northern Territory.
Classification
In the lexicostatistic classification ...
References
{{Authority control
Rivers of the Northern Territory
Victoria Daly Region