The Wessel Islands is a group of uninhabited islands in the
Northern Territory of Australia
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 ...
. They extend in a more or less straight line from
Buckingham Bay
Buckingham Bay is a large, rectangular bay on the northern coast of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It lies 520 km east of Darwin and 120 km west of Nhulunbuy.
Description
The bay is about 40 km long and ...
and the Napier Peninsula of
Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...
, and
Elcho Island
Elcho Island, known to its traditional owners as Galiwin'ku (Galiwinku) is an island off the coast of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located at the southern end of the Wessel Islands group located in the East Arnhe ...
, to the northeast.
Marchinbar Island
Marchinbar Island is the largest island in the Wessel Islands in the Northern Territory of Australia in the Arafura Sea.
Location
It is separated from Rimbija Island, the most northeasterly of the Wessel Islands, by a narrow channel, which is ...
is the largest of the group. Other islands include
Elcho Island
Elcho Island, known to its traditional owners as Galiwin'ku (Galiwinku) is an island off the coast of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located at the southern end of the Wessel Islands group located in the East Arnhe ...
,
Rimbija Island
Rimbija Island is the northernmost island of the Wessel Islands group in the Northern Territory of Australia. The most northerly point of the small island is called Cape Wessel. It is separated from Marchinbar Island to the south by a narrow stra ...
(the most outlying island), Guluwuru,
Raragala, Stevens Island, Burgunngura, Djeergaree, Yargara,
Drysdale Island
Drysdale Island is a large but low-lying island in the Wessel Islands group in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is long and up to wide. It measures in area.
The only settlement is Yirringa, a small family Aboriginal outstation at the n ...
, Jirrgari Island, Graham Island, Alger Island, Abbott Island, and
Howard Island.
Bumaga Island
Bumaga Island is an island in both the Wessel Islands group and the Cunningham Islands group in the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian terr ...
and
Warnawi Island
Warnawi Island is a small island which is part of both the Wessel Islands group and the Cunningham Islands in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is one of two islands to do, the other being Bumaga Island
Bumaga Island is an island in b ...
, both part of the Wessel Islands group, are also part of the
Cunningham Islands
The Cunningham Islands is a small group of islands located south of the Wessel Islands in the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory ...
.
History
The Wessel Islands constituted the homelands of the ''Nango'' or
Yan-nhaŋu
The Yan-nhaŋu, also known as the Nango, are an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory. They have strong sociocultural connections with their neighbours, the Burarra, on the Australian mainland.
Name
The Yan-nhaŋu people derive ...
.
Marchinbar coins
In 1944, Australian soldier Morry Isenberg found nine coins buried in the sand one day while fishing when he was stationed on
Marchinbar Island
Marchinbar Island is the largest island in the Wessel Islands in the Northern Territory of Australia in the Arafura Sea.
Location
It is separated from Rimbija Island, the most northeasterly of the Wessel Islands, by a narrow channel, which is ...
. In 1979 he sent these coins to be authenticated. Four of the coins were found to have come from the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
, while the other five were determined to be from the
Kilwa Sultanate in
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
. Their re-examination has given rise to much speculation about how these medieval African coins came to Australia. Another coin, believed to be from Kilwa, turned up on Elcho Island where it was found by Past Masters amateur archaeologist Mike Hermes in 2018.
European discovery and naming
The islands were mapped and named by a Dutch expedition that sailed from
Banda Neira
Banda Neira (also known as Pulau Neira) is an island in the Banda Islands, Indonesia. It is administered as part of the administrative Banda Islands District (''Kecamatan Kepulauan Banda'') within the Central Maluku Regency in the province of ...
to explore the coasts of
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
and the
South Land following up on discoveries made in 1623 by
Jan Carstensz and Willem van Colster (who named
Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...
after his ship ''Arnhem''). The expedition used two small yachts that had been prefabricated in the Netherlands and were assembled on the Banda Islands, the ''Cleen Amsterdam'' and the ''Wesel''.
The ships sailed on 17 April 1636 under the command of Gerrit Thomas Pool, who was killed on New Guinea just 11 days later. The merchant Pieter Pieterszoon took over command and continued the voyage, returning to Banda. Besides the ''Wesel Eilanden'', named after the ship, Pietersen described the
Cobourg Peninsula
The Cobourg Peninsula is located east of Darwin in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is deeply indented with coves and bays, covers a land area of about , and is virtually uninhabited with a population ranging from about 20 to 30 in five ...
,
Melville Island (''Roode hoek''), and
Dundas Strait
Dundas Strait is a sea passage in the Northern Territory of Australia located between Melville Island and the Cobourg Peninsula. It connects the Timor Sea to the Van Diemen Gulf
Van Diemen Gulf is a gulf in the Northern Territory of Austr ...
(which he misidentified as a bay). 170 years later
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...
decided to retain the name of the islands, though he slightly modified it to ''Wessel''. The cities of
Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...
and
Wesel
Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.
Geography
Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine.
Division of the city
Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighove ...
, ultimate sources of the names of Arnhem Land and Wessel Islands, are themselves only 60 km (37 miles) separated.
Later history
Much of the population of the Wessel Islands was decimated by
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
, introduced from
Makassar
Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Med ...
by
Makassan traders during the 1790s. By the early nineteenth century, many of the
Yolngu clans had been wiped out.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, a string of observational outposts were set up along the Wessel Islands. A
minesweeper
A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
History
The earliest known usage of ...
, the
Patricia Cam, was sunk by a Japanese
float plane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
on 22 January 1943. A Yolgnu account of the incident, and attempts to save the survivors was taken down from one of the latter, Narritjin Maymuru.
Extent and geography
The islands extend in a more or less straight line from
Buckingham Bay
Buckingham Bay is a large, rectangular bay on the northern coast of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It lies 520 km east of Darwin and 120 km west of Nhulunbuy.
Description
The bay is about 40 km long and ...
and the Napier Peninsula of
Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...
, and
Elcho Island
Elcho Island, known to its traditional owners as Galiwin'ku (Galiwinku) is an island off the coast of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located at the southern end of the Wessel Islands group located in the East Arnhe ...
, to the northeast.
Marchinbar Island
Marchinbar Island is the largest island in the Wessel Islands in the Northern Territory of Australia in the Arafura Sea.
Location
It is separated from Rimbija Island, the most northeasterly of the Wessel Islands, by a narrow channel, which is ...
is the largest of the group. Other islands include
Elcho Island
Elcho Island, known to its traditional owners as Galiwin'ku (Galiwinku) is an island off the coast of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located at the southern end of the Wessel Islands group located in the East Arnhe ...
,
Rimbija Island
Rimbija Island is the northernmost island of the Wessel Islands group in the Northern Territory of Australia. The most northerly point of the small island is called Cape Wessel. It is separated from Marchinbar Island to the south by a narrow stra ...
(the most outlying island), Guluwuru,
Raragala, Stevens Island, Burgunngura, Djeergaree, Yargara,
Drysdale Island
Drysdale Island is a large but low-lying island in the Wessel Islands group in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is long and up to wide. It measures in area.
The only settlement is Yirringa, a small family Aboriginal outstation at the n ...
, Jirrgari Island, Graham Island, Alger Island, Abbott Island, and
Howard Island.
[ Includes downloadable map, ]
available under
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
licence.
Bumaga Island
Bumaga Island is an island in both the Wessel Islands group and the Cunningham Islands group in the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian terr ...
and
Warnawi Island
Warnawi Island is a small island which is part of both the Wessel Islands group and the Cunningham Islands in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is one of two islands to do, the other being Bumaga Island
Bumaga Island is an island in b ...
, both part of the Wessel Islands group, are also part of the
Cunningham Islands
The Cunningham Islands is a small group of islands located south of the Wessel Islands in the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory ...
.
Marchinbar has
bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO ...
deposits.
Most of its bays are unnamed, with only three bearing names, including Picture Bay.
Easterly
trade wind
The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisph ...
s and swells hit the east coast through much of the year, but in the summer, westerly winds are prevalent, and the eastern side is calm, but subject to heavy rainfall, creating many waterfalls.
Transport
Locals visit the islands by boat. Tourists can get to
Gove Airport
Gove Airport (also known as Gove-Nhulunbuy Airport) is on the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory of Australia. It services the mining town of Nhulunbuy and several Aboriginal communities including Yirrkala. The airport is located sou ...
from
Cairns
Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
using
Airnorth
Capiteq Pty Limited, trading as Airnorth, is a regional airline based at Darwin International Airport in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. It operates scheduled and charter services in the Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western ...
, and take tours from there.
Population
There are no permanent settlements on the islands.
Ecology
Protection
Wessel is the name of the
IBRA subregion based on the Islands area, as well as the Commonwealth
marine reserve
A marine reserve is a type of marine protected area (MPA). An MPA is a section of the ocean where a government has placed limits on human activity. A marine reserve is a marine protected area in which removing or destroying natural or cultural ...
.
The archipelago is known for its
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
, and harbours several
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
.
Plastic waste
Researchers from the
Charles Darwin University
Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with a main campus in Darwin and eight satellite campuses in some metropolitan and regional areas. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Territory University ...
reported in early 2022 that the problem of
plastic waste
Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are catego ...
landing up on the islands was a worsening problem. Many types of plastics, including
fishing gear
Fishing tackle is the equipment used by anglers when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used in fishing can be called fishing tackle, examples being hooks, lines, baits/ lures, rods, reels, floats, sinkers/ feeders, nets, stringers/ k ...
,
ghost net
Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded in the ocean. These nets, often nearly invisible in the dim light, can be left tangled on a rocky reef or drifting in the open sea. They can entangle fish, dol ...
s, plastic bottles, cartons, and
styrofoam
Styrofoam is a trademarked brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), commonly called "Blue Board", manufactured as foam continuous building insulation board used in walls, roofs, and foundations as thermal insulation and water barrie ...
has increasingly littered the shores since the first survey in 2011, and is probably the worst in Northern Australia. The Gumurr Marthakal Rangers have managed the area since 2016, and are concerned at the waste, but need assistance and ongoing funding to get it cleaned up as the problem is so extensive.
See also
*
Abbott Island (Wessel Islands)
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
Wessel Islands map
{{authority control
Islands of the Northern Territory
Yolngu
Arnhem Land tropical savanna
IBRA subregions