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King George Sound ( nys , Menang Koort
) is a
sound
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by ...
on the
south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805.
The name "King George Sound" gradually came into use from about 1934, prompted by new
Admiralty charts supporting the intention to eliminate the possessive 's' from geographical names.
The sound covers an area of and varies in depth from . Situated at its western shore is the city of
Albany.
The sound is bordered by the mainland to the north, by Vancouver Peninsula on the west, and by Bald Head and Flinders Peninsula to the south. Although the sound is open water to the east, the waters are partially protected by
Breaksea Island and
Michaelmas Island. There are two harbours located within the sound,
Princess Royal Harbour to the west and
Oyster Harbour to the north. Each receives excellent protection from winds and heavy seas. Princess Royal Harbour was Western Australia's only deep-water port for around 70 years until the
Fremantle Inner Harbour was opened in 1897.
History
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The first reported visit to King George Sound by a European was in 1791 by the English explorer Captain
George Vancouver
Post-captain, Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his Vancouver Expedition, 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Un ...
. Vancouver named it ''King George the Third's Sound'' after the reigning monarch.
The next Europeans to visit the sound were Captain Dennis of the ''Kingston'', and Captain Dixson of the ''
Elligood''. ''Kingston'' and ''Elligood'' were
whaler
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.
Terminology
The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...
s and while there caught three whales. Dixson left an inscribed piece of copper plate behind.
Matthew Flinders
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland ...
anchored in the sound from 8 December 1801 to 5 January 1802 and explored the area. While he was there, his men found the copper plate Dixson had left. During this time
Robert Brown (ship's botanist) and
Peter Good Peter Good (date of birth unknown, died 12 June 1803) was the gardener assistant to botanist Robert Brown on the voyage of HMS ''Investigator'' under Matthew Flinders, during which the coast of Australia was charted, and various plants collected.
...
(ship's gardener) collected samples of over 500 plant species.
Nicolas Baudin arrived in the sound in February 1803 aboard ''
Le Geographe'' to rendezvous with
Louis de Freycinet
Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet (7 August 1779 – 18 August 1841) was a French Navy officer. He circumnavigated the earth, and in 1811 published the first map to show a full outline of the coastline of Australia.
Biography
He was born at ...
aboard the before doing further exploration of the Western Australian coastline. During the course of their stay the ship's naturalist
François Péron, collected 1060 new species of shellfish and a large number of starfish from the sound.
Phillip Parker King
Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts.
Early life and education
King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna J ...
visited the sound in 1818 aboard the cutter while en route to conduct a nautical survey of the North West Cape, and Frenchman
Dumont d'Urville visited it in 1826 aboard the
''Astrolabe''.
On 25 December 1826, the
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
colonial government
brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...
''
Amity
Amity may refer to:
Places United States
* Eagar, Arizona, a town, formerly named Amity
* Amity (New Haven), Connecticut, a neighborhood
* Amity, Georgia, an unincorporated community
* Amity, Illinois (disambiguation)
* Amity, Indiana, an uni ...
'', under the command of Major
Edmund Lockyer, arrived at King George Sound to establish a possessory military settlement. Lockyer named his settlement ''Fredrick Town'' after
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
's second son,
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (Frederick Augustus; 16 August 1763 – 5 January 1827) was the second son of George III, King of the United Kingdom and Hanover, and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A soldier by profes ...
, but this name never gained wide acceptance.
Instead the settlement and surrounding locality were usually referred to as King George's Sound. In 1832,
Governor of Western Australia Captain (later Admiral)
James Stirling declared the settlement a town and renamed it
Albany, but the broader locality continued to be referred to as King George's Sound for many years.
In 1834
Robert Dale
Lieutenant Robert Dale (1810–20 July 1853) was the first European explorer to cross the Darling Range in Western Australia.
Robert Dale was born in Winchester, England in November 1810, son of Major Thurston Dale and Helen Matthews. Throu ...
published in London a
panorama print of the view from Mount Clarence accompanied by a
pamphlet describing the sound and the geography, geology, flora, fauna and native inhabitants of the immediate region.
On 8 March 1836,
HMS ''Beagle'' visited King George Sound and anchored there for eight days. On board was the young naturalist
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
, who collected specimens on shore. ''Beagle'' was on the homeward leg of her celebrated circumnavigation of the world, having already stopped off at
Sydney.
Until the construction of
Fremantle Harbour
Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and nava ...
in 1897, King George Sound contained the only deepwater port in Western Australia, and so was the favoured location for delivery of mail and supplies from abroad to Western Australia. These were then transported to Perth and Fremantle by road or coastal shipping until the early 1890s, when the completion of the
Great Southern Railway provided a quicker service.
Albany Port is located on the north shore of Princess Royal Harbour adjacent to the city of
Albany. The port was first established in 1826 and has been expanded regularly since. The port now has five berths able to cater to
panamax
Panamax and New Panamax (or Neopanamax) are terms for the size limits for ships travelling through the Panama Canal. The limits and requirements are published by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) in a publication titled "Vessel Requirements". ...
class vessels. The port typically caters for loading of about 120 vessels per annum.
In 1914, King George Sound was the last Australian anchorage for the fleet taking the first Australian and New Zealand soldiers, later to become known as
Anzac
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the Gallipoli campaign. General William Birdwood comm ...
s, to Egypt. A memorial to the Anzacs of the
Desert Mounted Corps has been established on top of
Mount Clarence. Albany was where the first commemorative dawn service was held on
Anzac Day, 25 April 1923. The contribution of
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal, revolutionary statesman, author, and the founding father of the Rep ...
, president of Turkey from 1923 until 1938 is recognised by naming the entrance into Princess Royal Harbour as
Atatürk Entrance
Princess Royal Harbour is a part of King George Sound on the South coast of Western Australia, and harbour to Albany. On its northern shore is the Port of Albany. The name ''Princess Royal'' also appears in Albany in Princess Royal Fortress an ...
.
There is evidence that shore-based bay whaling was carried out in Barker Bay, by James Daniels, as early as 1849. Whaling ships from Hobart also visited the area in the 2nd half of the 19th century. The
Cheyne Beach Whaling Company began operating out of Frenchman Bay, located within the sound, in 1952 with a small quota of 50 humpback whales that was eventually increased to 175. At the peak of the whaling activity in the sound the company was taking between 900 and 1100
sperm and
humpback whale
The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hum ...
s in a year. Humpback whaling was banned in 1963 which in turn decreased the viability of the operation.
In 1978 the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company closed down after increasing environmental lobby group pressure. It was Australia's last coastal whaling company.
Installation of a
shark barrier was commenced and completed in March 2016 at
Middleton Beach
Middleton may refer to:
People
*Middleton (name), list of notable people with surname of Middleton Places Australia
* Middleton, Queensland
*Middleton, South Australia
*Middleton, Tasmania, on the D'Entrecasteaux Channel
* Middleton Beach, Western ...
at the north western end of the sound.
Flora
Dense
seagrass
Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families ( Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the ...
beds still exist in King George Sound, although they have been adversely affected by increased nutrient levels and industry in the area. Some of the seagrasses present in the sound include ''
Posidonia australis, Posidonia robertsoneae, Posidonia kirkmanii, Posidonia sinuosa, Posidonia denhartogii,
Posidonia ostenfeldii
''Posidonia ostenfeldii'' is a species of seagrass that occurs in the southern waters of Australia.
Description
A species of '' Posidonia''. A perennial rhizomatous herb that appears as clumps on sand in marine habitat. It is found at depths ...
,
Amphibolis antarctica,
Amphibolis griffithii
''Amphibolis griffithii'' is a seagrass found in waters along the southwestern coasts of Western Australia, extending to Encounter Bay in South Australia .
Description
A common marine herb, the rhizomatous plant forms meadows which stabilise sa ...
,
Halophila australis
''Halophila australis'', the paddle weed, is a species of seagrass
Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniac ...
,
Halophila ovalis,
Ruppia megacarpa'' and ''
Heterozostera tasmanica
''Zostera'' is a small genus of widely distributed seagrasses, commonly called marine eelgrass, or simply seagrass or eelgrass, and also known as seaweed by some fishermen and recreational boaters including yachtsmen. The genus ''Zostera'' con ...
''.
The fringing vegetation around the sound includes both the saltmarshes of Oyster Harbour and Princess Royal Harbour, and the sandy beach vegetation. Saltmarshes contain a variety of species including
samphire,
seablite,
astartea,
wattle
Wattle or wattles may refer to:
Plants
*''Acacia sensu lato'', polyphyletic genus of plants commonly known as wattle, especially in Australia and South Africa
**''Acacia'', large genus of shrubs and trees, native to Australasia
**Black wattle, c ...
, greenbush, shore rush, twig rush and
saltwater paperbark.
Freshwater species also occur in areas where substantial freshwater seepage occurs.
Sandy beach areas contain a mix of shrubs and sedges such as the grey white cushion bush, coast sword sedge, knotted club rush, sea rocket, pigface and false caper.
Fauna
The sound comprises a wide variety of habitats that supports an abundance of marine life.
Many species of
coral
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secre ...
s are present including Turbinaria frondens, Turbinaria mesenterina and Turbinaria renformis which cover an extensive area. Other coral species that can be found include Scolymia australis, Plesiastrea versipora, Coscinaraea mcneilli and Coscinaraea marshae.
A large, wild mussel population was known to exist in the sound, and now commercial mussel farms operate within the area that grow and harvest
Blue mussels.
It is estimated that 203 species of fish inhabit the Oyster Harbour, Princess Royal Harbour and King George Sound, with Australian
pilchards ''Sardinops sagax neopilchardus'' making up 97% of the total fish catch.
Other species that are commonly found include
Australian herring, leatherjackets, cobbler, tailor, Australian anchovy, garfish, sand trevally, tarwhine, flathead, tuna, snapper, Australian salmon, yellowtail scad, sea mullet, striped trumpeter, long-toothed flounder, dusky morwong and long-finned goby. The
King George whiting (''Sillaginodes punctatus'') was first named by
Cuvier
Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in nat ...
in 1829 as ''Sillago punctata'', based on an individual taken from King George Sound.
Seals are known to inhabit the sound in various locations along the coast and on the islands. The species that are sighted most often are the
Australian sea lion
The Australian sea lion (''Neophoca cinerea''), also known as the Australian sea-lion or Australian sealion, is a species of sea lion that is the only endemic pinniped in Australia. It is currently monotypic in the genus '' Neophoca'', with the ...
and the
New Zealand fur seal
''Arctocephalus forsteri'' (common names include the Australasian fur seal, South Australian fur seal, New Zealand fur seal, Antipodean fur seal, or long-nosed fur seal) is a species of fur seal found mainly around southern Australia and New ...
. Species that have been sighted, but are considered to be occasional visitors, include the
subantarctic fur seal and the
leopard seal.
[
]Dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...
s are also found in the area, and are occasionally caught and drowned in fishing nets or stranded. The common dolphin ''Delphinus delphis'' and the bottlenose dolphin
Bottlenose dolphins are aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus definitively contains two species: the co ...
''Tursiops truncates'' have both been recorded in the area.
Southern right whale
The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...
s and humpback whale
The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hum ...
s frequent the area between July and October when they congregate to mate and calve in the protected waters of the sound. Other whales that have been spotted in the area include minke whales, blue whale
The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can b ...
s, short-finned pilot whales, false killer whale
The false killer whale (''Pseudorca crassidens'') is a species of oceanic dolphin that is the only extant representative of the genus '' Pseudorca''. It is found in oceans worldwide but mainly in tropical regions. It was first described in 18 ...
s and killer whales.[ ]Sperm whale
The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus '' Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the sperm whale famil ...
s were known to visit the sound during the whaling era but none have been sighted recently, although a pod was detected further out in the Southern Ocean in 2002.
The sound becomes a perfect habitat for migratory wading birds during the summer, when an estimated 2,000-3,000 birds flock to the area to feed in the shallow mudflats of the harbours. Some of the species that can be found during the summer months include the red-necked stint
The red-necked stint (''Calidris ruficollis'') is a small migratory wader. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific ''ruficollis'' is from La ...
and the red knot as well as sandpipers, grey plovers, red capped plovers, lesser sand plovers, grey-tailed tattler
The grey-tailed tattler (''Tringa brevipes'', formerly ''Heteroscelus brevipes''Banks, Richard C.; Cicero, Carla; Dunn, Jon L.; Kratter, Andrew W.; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Remsen, J. V. Jr.; Rising, James D. & Stotz, Douglas F. (2006):Forty-seventh ...
s, Eurasian whimbrel
The Eurasian whimbrel or common whimbrel (''Numenius phaeopus'') is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across much of subarctic Asia and Europe as far south as Scotland. This spe ...
s, common greenshanks, yellow-billed spoonbill, white-faced heron
The white-faced heron (''Egretta novaehollandiae'') also known as the white-fronted heron, and incorrectly as the grey heron, or blue crane, is a common bird throughout most of Australasia, including New Guinea, the islands of Torres Strait, In ...
and stilts. Other birds that are commonly seen around the sound include cormorant
Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...
s, pied oystercatchers, sooty oystercatcher
The sooty oystercatcher (''Haematopus fuliginosus'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird endemic to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. It prefers rocky coastlines, but will occasionally live in estuaries. All of its fe ...
s, Pacific gull
The Pacific gull (''Larus pacificus'') is a very large gull, native to the coasts of Australia. It is moderately common between Carnarvon in the west, and Sydney in the east, although it has become scarce in some parts of the south-east, as a ...
s, Caspian tern
The Caspian tern (''Hydroprogne caspia'') is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no accepted subspecies. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ...
s, pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...
s, osprey
The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
s and white-bellied sea eagles.
Geology
The Western Australian south coast is formed along the edge of the southern margin of the Yilgarn craton and is fringed with prominent headlands composed of granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...
and gneiss
Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...
es formed during Proterozoic tectonic activity. Arcuate Bays that contain beaches backed by holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
dunes are found between the headlands.
King George Sound includes many islands and some islets, all comprising granitoid rocks with accumulations of soil on most.
Islands of note include Breaksea Island, Michaelmas Island, Seal Island, Mistaken Island, and Green Island.
.
Oceanography
The tidal range in King George Sound (including Princess Royal Harbour and Oyster Harbour) is with spring tidal range of . Tidal levels can remain static for periods of time. Semi-diurnal tides are frequent and diurnal tides are occasional.
The temperature of the water in the sound is slightly different from that of the open sea.
The salinity
Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...
level within the Sound remains relatively constant ranging between 34.8 and 35.5 ' ‰', the lower levels occurring during heavy winter rain events when large volumes of freshwater enter the sound from the King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...
and Kalgan rivers.
The Leeuwin Current exerts some influence in the sound as it flows eastwards along the continental shelf in the main part of the sound.
Shipwrecks
Many wrecks exist within King George Sound. The most recent and best known is the guided missile destroyer ''HMAS Perth'', which was scuttled in 2001 in of water off Seal Island, to be used as a dive-site.
The former whale chaser ''Cheynes'' was sold for scrap in 1961 and was subsequently sunk between Michaelmas Island and the northern shoreline of the sound. Another chaser in the fleet, ''Cheynes II'', was blown ashore on Geak Point near Quaranup
Quaranup, also known a Camp Quaranup and Albany Quarantine Station, was once a quarantine station in Albany, Western Australia; it now operates as a camp for tourists.
Situated in a Class A nature reserve on the Vancouver Peninsula on the shorel ...
in Princess Royal Harbour in 1990 and is still there, approximately off-shore.
The '' Lady Lyttleton'' sank in the Emu Point channel when repairs were attempted in 1867.
A Hobart wooden barque, the ''Fanny Nicholson'' was being used as a whaling vessel when it ran ashore during a gale in 1872. The remains can still be seen in shallow water in Frenchman Bay. Another Tasmanian whaling barque, the ''Runnymede'', met a similar fate when it ran aground during a storm in 1881.
Two wrecks within the sound are protected under the federal '' Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976''. These are the wooden barque ''Athena'' that sank in 1908, and the wooden boat ''Elvie'' that sank in 1923.
In 1868, ''Northumberland'', a wooden barque laden with 2000 tonnes of coal, grounded on a reef off Bald Head near the entrance to King George Sound. The ship was freed and sailed into the sound with a broken rudder, the crew eventually abandoned ship and took to the life boats. ''Northumberland'' foundered and sank between Cape Vancouver and Breaksea Island.
Gallery
Image:View from the south side of King George's Sound.jpg, South side of King George's Sound, by Westall
Image:Part of King George III Sound, on the South Coast of New Holland, December 1801.jpg, Part of King George III Sound, December 1801'', by Westall
Image:Michaelmasislandmtclarence.jpg, Michaelmas Island as viewed from Mount Clarence
Image:Mistaken Island King George Sound.jpg, Mistaken Island from near Goode Beach
Image:Seal Island King George Sound.jpg, Seal Island from near Goode Beach
Image:Green Island Oyster Harbour.jpg, Green Island from Bayonet Head
See also
*Port of Albany
The Port of Albany is located within Princess Royal Harbour in King George Sound on the south coast of Western Australia, in the Great Southern region.
Location
The port is located on the northern shore of Princess Royal Harbour, a natural ...
*Whaling in Western Australia
Whaling was one of the first viable industries established in the Swan River Colony following the 1829 arrival of British settlers to Western Australia. The industry had numerous ups and downs until the last whaling station closed in Albany in ...
* King George Sound (Tasmania)
References
External links
{{Authority control
Albany, Western Australia
Bays of Western Australia
South coast of Western Australia
Shipwreck areas of Western Australia
Sounds of Western Australia
Articles containing video clips
King George Sound
Whaling stations in Australia
Whaling in Australia