Halifax Bay is a region located around a bay in the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

, situated on the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n coast in

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

. It is bordered by the town of Ingham to the north, city of

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

to the south and

Great Palm Island Great Palm Island, usually known as Palm Island, is the largest island in the Palm Islands group off Northern Queensland, Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal community, the legacy of an Aboriginal reserve, the Palm Island Aboriginal Sett ...

off the coast to the east. Regional localities include Mount Low, Bushland Beach,

Yabulu Yabulu is a town and coastal suburb in the City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. In the , Yabulu had a population of 697 people. Geography Yabulu is approximately north of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The Bruce Highway passes thro ...

, Saunders Beach, Toolakea Beach, Bluewater, Toomulla Beach, Rollingstone, Balgal Beach, Paluma, Mutamee, Taylors Beach and Allingham (formerly Forrest Beach). Major tributaries of Halifax Bay to the north include Trebonne Creek, Cattle Creek, and Crystal Creek, while in the south the inflows are from Rollingstone Creek, Bluewater Creek, Black River and the

Bohle River The Bohle River is a river located in North Queensland, Australia. Course and features The headwaters of the river rise in the Hervey Range south of and flows north along the coastal plain west of Lake Ross and then north, parallel with Ros ...

History

Halifax Bay was originally inhabited by the Warakami and the Wulgurkaba aboriginal tribes and these were likely some of the tribes people that Captain James Cook saw when he named Halifax Bay between June 6–8, 1770.

George Elphinstone Dalrymple George Augustus Frederick Elphinstone Dalrymple (6 May 1826 – 22 January 1876) was a colonist, explorer, public servant and politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. He founded the towns of Bowen and Cardwell, and pioneer ...

explored the Halifax Bay area in the early 1860s and the first settlers to the

Herbert River The Herbert River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The southernmost of Queensland's wet tropics river systems, it was named in 1864 by George Elphinstone Dalrymple explorer, after Robert George Wyndham Herbert, the fir ...

Valley settled soon after. Ingham was first settled in 1865. The southern parts of Halifax Bay developed at a slower pace with the area south of Crystal Creek being included in the newly formed Thuringowa Land Division in 1879. The southern section of Halifax Bay, including

, was prominent in air defence of the area during the Second World War. Halifax Bay, being on the northern approaches to the major air base in Townsville, was an ideal signals and battery location. Significant operations included Fort Kissing Point at Cape Pallarenda in Townsville, a signal and radar station on Mount Spec in Thuringowa, a radio station at Mount Low also in Thuringowa and a seaplane base at the north end of Great Palm Island. A US Army Hospital operated at Black River in Thuringowa. Rattlesnake Island, also in Halifax Bay, was used for live firing (and is still used for this purpose). After the war the southern section of Halifax Bay began a transition from rural to residential settlement with significant beach developments occurring from the 1960s onwards. In 1971 the area of southern Halifax Bay was heavily impacted by

Cyclone Althea Severe Tropical Cyclone Althea was a powerful tropical cyclone that devastated parts of North Queensland just before Christmas 1971. One of the strongest storms ever to affect the Townsville area, Althea was the fourth system and second severe ...

Industry

In 1974 Thuringowa's Nickel Refinery (QNI Nickel) began its operations at

on the south end of Halifax Bay. The northern section of Halifax Bay is a major sugar producing area. The first settlers to the northern area were cattle farmers but sugar became the major interest when the Mackenzie Brothers built the first

sugar cane mill A sugar cane mill is a factory that processes sugar cane to produce raw or white sugar. The term is also used to refer to the equipment that crushes the sticks of sugar cane to extract the juice. Processing There are a number of steps in pro ...

in 1872. By 1970 over 2,000,000T of cane was being crushed in the district

Ecology

Halifax Bay is an important Australian ecological area. The bay itself is part of the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

World Heritage Area whilst the Paluma Range is included in the

Wet Tropics World Heritage Area The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...

. Halifax Bay is generally a turbid environment that supports a wide variety of commercial and recreational fish species, prawns and scallops.Southern Halifax Bay Ecological Assessment published by QNI Nickel Refinery, 2000 The bay also supports Dugong habitats and is a significant Green Turtle nesting area. Operators and regulatory bodies regularly assess environmental impacts from sugar growers, the Yabulu Refinery, military use and residential use.

References

{{coord, 18, 50, S, 146, 30, E, region:AU_type:waterbody, display=title Bays of Queensland North Queensland

History

Industry

Ecology

See also

References