Kuri Bay is a remote coastal bay in the far north of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in the Kimberley region, about north of Broome. It is a designated point on the Western Australian Forecast Areas, utilised by the

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together ...

as a boundary for the North Kimberley Coast area from the West Kimberley Coast. The closest main town is

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, southwest of the bay. The bay opens directly into the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, and

Augustus Island Augustus Island is one of the many uninhabited Canadian Arctic islands in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut. It is a Baffin Island offshore island located in inner Frobisher Bay. The island lies at the head of Ward Inlet, between Becher Peninsul ...

is located just off-shore from the bay. The bay is part of the

Prince Regent National Park Prince Regent National Park, formerly the Prince Regent Nature Reserve, is a protected area in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. In 1978 the area was nominated as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. Land The national park covers a to ...

and the Kunmunya Aboriginal Reserve.

History

It is the home to Australia's first

cultured pearl Cultured pearls are formed within a cultured pearl sac with human intervention in the interior of productive living molluscs in a variety of conditions depending upon the mollusc and the goals. Just as the same as natural pearls, cultured pearls ...

farm and is named after the company's first principal, Tokuichi Kuribayashi (1896–1982). The Japanese-American-Australian company commenced operations in 1956 following the Western Australian Government repealing the Pearling Act that prohibited the production, sale and possession of cultured pearls. A monument to the founders of the Kuri Bay pearling industry stood in Broome and featured Tokuichi Kuribayashi, Keith Dureau and Hiroshi Iwaki. Kuribayashi was originally from Nippon Pearl Company, Tokyo, while Iwaki and Dureau were from Pearl Proprietary Ltd, which had been set up through finance from Otto Gerdau Company, Male and Co, and Brown and Dureau Ltd. By 1973 the Kuri Bay operation was producing 60% of the world's large white South Sea pearls.

Paspaley Paspaley, officially the Paspaley Pearling Company, a private company, is Australia's largest and oldest pearling company; that cultivates, farms, harvests, wholesales and retails South Sea pearls for the purposes of luxury jewellery supply a ...

, the biggest supplier of South Sea pearls in the world, has one of their largest and most well-known pearl farms located at Kuri Bay.

Climate

Kuri Bay experiences a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

Aw).

References

{{Reflist, 30em Kimberley coastline of Western Australia Bays of Western Australia

History

Climate

See also

References