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Location:
The site is located on the edge of Grub Reef at the northern
entrance to Princess Charlotte Bay, about 34 km East of Port
Campbell. Grub Reef (Reef 14 003) lies within the Far Northern
Management Area of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Marine
National Park Zone 13-1019). It lies within Cook Shire. The site was
not visited.
The Landscape:
The site is on the waters of Princess Charlotte Bay. The immediate
area has numerous reefs, separated by narrow channels of deep water.
Some of the reefs have small sand cays.
Grub Reef and
the surrounding waters have an abundant marine flora and fauna
including corals, sponges, fish, crocodiles, turtles and molluscs.
Point
information and photos: Ken Granger and Google Earth, 2008.
WITHIN THE
DEGREE SQUARE
The Country: A
large proportion of the extended degree square is covered by the
waters of the Coral Sea, much of it inside the Great Barrier Reef.
The marine environment is very complex and includes numerous coral
reefs, cays and shallow sea grass beds.
The land area
of the degree square contains the estuaries of the Kennedy, Normanby
and Stewart Rivers as well as the islands of the Flinders Group and
the higher country of Cape Melville. The oldest rocks in the area are
the Silurian-Devonian period sandstones (434 to 354 million years)
that form Barrow Point and the Devonian period granites (410 to 354
million years) that form Round Mountain just south of Campbell Point.
The remainder of the area is of much more recent origin and made up
of a mixture of sediments. Cape Melville itself is made up of granite
boulders to form an extremely complex and rugged landscape.
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Cape Melville
(J & M Nowill photo) |
Cape Melville
from the sea (Ken Granger photo) |
Note: A
'quarter' square has been added to the SE corner of the degree square
so as to more conveniently include the Cape Melville and Barrow Point area.
Vegetation
ranges from fringing mangroves along the coast and estuaries to
grassland studded with termite mounds to monsoon forest patches and
eucalypt dominated open forest.
Wildlife in the
area includes estuarine crocodiles, snakes (including taipan and king
brown snakes), lizards and turtles. Bird life is prolific - over half
of Australia's bird species have been recorded in this area including
the endangered golden shouldered parrot that nests in termite mounds.
The Climate:
The general area has a tropical savannah climate with a markedly dry
winter and wet summer. The closest climate station is Musgrave (the
former telegraph station) about 100 km south-west of the confluence
point. The main climatic averages are given in the table.
Musgrave (site
0028007) 1887 - 2008 (elevation 84 m ASL)
|
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
|
Mean
max
(ºC) |
33.3 |
32.6 |
32.2 |
31.7 |
30.7 |
29.6 |
26.6 |
30.7 |
33.0 |
34.5 |
35.5 |
34.8 |
32.4 |
|
Mean
min
(ºC) |
23.1 |
23.2 |
22.4 |
19.8 |
17.0 |
15.0 |
13.6 |
13.8 |
15.6 |
18.4 |
20.7 |
22.6 |
18.8 |
|
Mean
rain
(mm) |
270.6 |
293.4 |
240.0 |
73.6 |
15.4 |
9.8 |
4.1 |
2.8 |
3.2 |
13.8 |
57.3 |
178.4 |
1169.0 |
There
is significant variability in the climate. The highest maximum on
record was 41.8°C in December 1992 while the lowest minimum
recorded was 2.4°C in July 1996. Rainfall also varies greatly.
The highest annual rainfall on record was 2031.1 mm in 1913 and the
lowest annual rainfall was 400.5 mm in 1902.
Extremes of Nature:
The area is subject to frequent and often very severe cyclones. The
cyclone database maintained by the Bureau of Meteorology shows 53
cyclone tracks passing within 200 km of the confluence point between
1906-7 and 2006-7. The points of origin of these cyclones are roughly
evenly divided between the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Coral Sea.
Cyclone tracks
that have passed within 200 km of the confluence point (BoM web site)
In March 1899
the country's first ever recorded Category 5 tropical cyclone,
wrecked the pearling fleet sheltered in Princess Charlotte and
Bathurst Bays. This storm was named Mahina by Clement Wragge,
the colony's meteorologist.
On Saturday 4
March 1899 the pearling fleet of eight schooners attended by about 80
luggers was anchored in various locations in the western part of
Princess Charlotte Bay and in Bathurst Bay. The Channel Rock
Lightship was also moored near Pipon Island. The pearling fleet had
come together in the area to take on supplies from their supporting
schooners, take on fresh water and to transfer pearl shell.
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According to
eye witness accounts, at 7.00 pm on 4 March the winds were moderate
from the south-west, however, they steadily increased in strength and
by 11.00 pm they were blowing with hurricane force from the
south-west. The eye of the cyclone probably crossed the coast through
Bathurst Bay around 4.30 am on the 5th and was preceded along the
coast of Cape Melville by a very large storm tide. The schooner Crest
of the Wave recorded a barometric pressure of '27 inches' (914
hpa) at 4.30 am, the lowest pressure ever recorded on the Queensland coast. |
The
fleet was devastated. Five schooners were totally lost; two were
wrecked but refloated and one was dismasted. In all 54 luggers were
totally lost and 12 were wrecked but refloated. The light ship was
also lost. At least 307 crew members perished. A number of local
Aboriginal people were also drowned when they attempted to rescue
shipwrecked men. An 18 year old Darnley Island woman named Mohara
(also variously spelt Muara, Moora, Mokara or Moira) was on board one
of the lugger with her two married sisters. When their boat was
wrecked she assisted her two sisters to reach land and undoubtedly
saved their lives. The then Queensland Government Resident on
Thursday Island, John Douglas, wrote to the Home Secretary commending
Mohara's bravery and as a result the Queensland Government struck a
special silver medal that was presented to her by John Douglas on
Darnley Island on 17 November 1899. The inscription on the medal reads:
"Presented
to Mohara by the Government of Queensland for bravery on the night of
4th and 5th March 1899"
The story of
Mohara's bravery has been embellished in various accounts. For
example, that she saved two sailors; that she was on her honeymoon
and that she was presented the Royal Humane Society's silver medal.
Research undertaken by Torres Strait historian Jim McJannett has
corrected the account as recounted above. He has also reported that
Mohara passed away on board a pearling lugger in December 1929 and
was subsequently buried on Thursday Island.
The total death
toll from TC Mahina was probably close to 400.
The impact on
land was also massive. Trees were uprooted, those that stood were
stripped of their leaves or had branches torn off. It took several
years for the vegetation to recover, a fact that produced severe
famine and great hardship amongst the local Aboriginal community.
The storm tide
that was produced by Mahina has been reported to have reached
a height of 15 m at its highest on Flinders Island and 13 m south of
Cape Barrow - amongst the highest ever recorded anywhere. Those
figures are based on reports of 'porpoises and sharks' being found at
the top of a 15 m cliff on Flinders Island and the eye witness report
of Constable John Kenny who was camped on a sand ridge 'fully 40 ft
[12.2 m] above sea level and about half a mile [800 m] from the
beach' near Barrow Point. His camp was destroyed by the winds,
several of his horses were killed by falling branches and 'an immense
tidal wave swept in shore, and reached waist deep on the ridge with
the camp on it, completing the misery of the constable and his
troopers, also spoiling Kenny's watch'. The wave 'stretched between
two and three miles [3 to 5 km] inland'.
Research
undertaken in the past few years has brought these reports into
question. Sophisticated modelling based on the known properties of Mahina
have only been able to create a storm surge height of around 3 m.
Field investigations in 2002 could only find the type of debris
likely to have been thrown up on-shore by the storm tide to heights
up to 5 m above the highest tide level. To have achieved the height
reported by Constable Kenny, local topography and considerable wave
set up and wave run up would have been needed to add to the surge height.
This still
remains one of the more intriguing conundrums of Queensland's
considerable history of cyclone disasters.
Another
intriguing claim associated with Mahina is that its
destructive force was caused by two cyclones (one from the Gulf, the
other from the Coral Sea) combining the destructive forces over
Princess Charlotte Bay. The western 'cyclone' has also been given the
name Nachon. This story has emerged several times, even in recent
years, It seems to have its origin in the account known as the
'Outridge Booklet' published by the family of two men of that name
who perished in the cyclone. The 'Outridge Booklet' contains a sketch
map that is claimed to be based on the work of Clement Wragge.
Analysis of the available records by modern meteorologists discounts
the suggestion completely.
In addition to
cyclones, the area is subject to the impact of thunderstorms. The
area averages between 30 and 40 thunder days a year. These storms can
bring intense rainfall that may lead to local flash flooding as well
as destructive winds. Lightning strikes can spark bushfires if there
is sufficient fuel to permit it to spread.
The National
Earthquake database maintained by Geoscience Australia contains a
record of a ML 4.4 event on 16 February 1962 with its
epicentre located at the confluence point. No damage was reported
from this earthquake.
The
Indigenous Story: The Aboriginal groups that occupy the land
surrounding Princess Charlotte Bay, Cape Melville and the Flinders
Islands Group include (from north to south east) the Kuuku-yani,
Umbindhama, Lamalama and Mutumui linguistic - tribal groups.
Aboriginal
people collected valuable food, medicine and material resources from
many of the lagoons and waterholes along the Lakefield and Normanby
Rivers and from the coastal waters. There are internationally
significant Aboriginal rock art sites, middens and other occupation
sites in the Flinders Group.
Conflict with
the early white explorers, miners and settlers occasionally led to
killings on both sides.
In 1927 the
entomologist and ethnographer Norman Tindale (then Director of the
South Australian Museum) visited the Princess Charlotte Bay area
where he filmed and recorded the life of the Aboriginal people and
their material culture. He made a collection of over 600 artefacts
that remain in the collection of the South Australian Museum. Of
particular interest were the double-outrigger canoes used by the
people of the area for fishing, trading and travel.
European
Exploration and Settlement: Princess Charlotte Bay and Cape
Melville were named by Lt Charles Jeffries (HMS Kangaroo) in
1815. Edmund Kennedy passed close to the shores of Princess Charlotte
Bay on his ill-fated exploration of Cape York in 1848. The waters of
the Bay attracted pearlers in the 1860s and provided early access via
Port Stewart to the Palmer River goldfields during the gold rush of
1873. Port Stewart remained the entry port for both the Coen and
Batavia goldfields.
When these
fields were worked out many of the miners who stayed in the area
turned their hand to harvesting sandalwood. The settlement of
Moojeeba, for example, was gazetted in 1900 to service the sandalwood
trade and the goldfields at Starcke and Coen. Grazing lands were also
taken up at that time.
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The increase in
shipping using the inner passage through the Great Barrier Reef led
to the establishment of several lights to improve shipping safety,
initially by the colonial government and after Federation by the
Commonwealth Light Service. One of the first to be built by the
Commonwealth was the Wharton Reef light located just to the south of
the confluence point. It was established in 1915 and was one of the
first unattended automatic lights deployed in Queensland. The
original light was deactivated in 1990 and is now displayed near the
Townsville Maritime Museum.
During WW II a
rumour went around that the Princess Charlotte Bay area was being
used by the Japanese as a submarine refuelling base. An Army patrol
from Townsville was flown into the area by Sunderland flying boat to
investigate but found nothing. Clearly the remoteness of the area
gave sufficient credence to the rumour.
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Today:
The main international shipping routes inside the Reef pass through
the area. The inner route has been in use for many years, whilst the
more recently established and shorter LADS Passage and Fairway
Channel provide a safer and simpler route. This new passage was
finally opened for shipping in 2003 following extensive surveys by
the RAN Hydrographic Office employing a range of remote sensing
technologies including the satellite imagery and the Laser Airborne
Depth Sounder (LADS), as well as more traditional survey vessel soundings.
Pipon Island
and various other key points are marked by modern automatic lights.
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Pipon Island
(Ken Granger photo, 2008) |
Shipping lanes
through the degree square |
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There are
approximately 2000 ship transits through the inner route every year.
All of the
inshore waters and all of the reef systems are zoned as Conservation
Zones, Habitat Protection Zones or Marine National Parks as part of
the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The Princess Charlotte Bay
Special Management Area covers much of the shallow sea grass beds
specifically to protect the area's dugong population.
Three National
Parks occupy the southern parts of the area - Lakefield National Park
and Cape Melville National Park on the mainland and the Flinders
Group National Park covering that group of islands (see www.epa.qld.gov.au/parks_and_forests
for details of each park).
The Aboriginal
settlement of Port Stewart (or Yintjingga or Moojeeba/Theethinji) is
the only permanent settlement within the degree square. This
community is used seasonally by the Lamalama people on whose
traditional land the settlement is located.
Seasonal camps
to support the growing sport fishing tourism industry now operating
in the area are also established. The fluctuation of population
numbers is shown in the table.
|
Measure |
1996 |
2001 |
2006 |
|
Total
Population |
163 |
263 |
58 |
|
Total
Males |
89 |
147 |
33 |
|
Total
Females |
74 |
116 |
25 |
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Under
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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64
Years and over |
6 |
18 |
3 |
Site Summary
|
Location |
Grub
Reef, Princess Charlotte Bay in Cook Shire |
|
Nearest
town |
Cooktown
200 km SSE |
|
Access |
By
boat (the point has not been reached) |
|
Terrain |
Shallow
reef |
|
Geology
& soils |
Coral
reef |
|
Vegetation |
Marine |
|
Land
use |
Marine
National Park |
|
Climate |
Tropical
savannah |
|
Population
in degree square |
58 |
|
Infrastucture |
A few dirt roads |
|
National Parks |
Great barrier
Reef Marine Park, Lakefield National Park, Cape Melville National
Park, Flinders Group National Park |
Compiler:
Ken Granger (2008)
Sources:
The account of
tropical cyclone Mahina is based on a report produced in 1958
by H.E. Whittingham, then Divisional Officer of the Bureau of
Meteorology Brisbane, who had access to contemporary documents from
both official and private sources. The results of the modern
investigations were reported by Dr Jonathon Nott (James Cook
University, Cairns) and Dr Matt Hayne (Geoscience Australia,
Canberra). The true story of Mohara was provided by Mr Jim McJannett
whose assistance in correcting this part of the Mahina story
is greatly appreciated.
Colin Hooper,
2006: Angor to Zillmanton - stories of North Queensland's deserted
towns, Bolton Print, Townsville.
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Last
updated 14 January 2010. Web page done by Hayley Freemantle.
For
more information email projectofficer@rgsq.org.au
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