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Bramble Cay, also known as Maizab Kaur (also spelt Maizub Kaur) and Massaramcoer, is a small cay located at the northeastern edge of Australia and the
Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their total la ...
of
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...
and at the northern end 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, A ...
. Lying around north of
Erub Island Darnley Island or ''Erub'' in the native Papuan language, Meriam Mir, is an island formed by volcanic action and situated in the eastern section of the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the Torres Strait Islands and is locat ...
in the
Gulf of Papua The Gulf of Papua is located in the southern coast region of New Guinea. It has a total surface area of . Geography Some of New Guinea's largest rivers, such as the Fly River, Turama River, Kikori River, Purari River, and Wawoi River flow ...
, it is the northernmost point of land of Australia and marks the end 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, A ...
. It is of interest for its
geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or ...
, human history and flora and fauna. It is an important nesting site for
green turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...
s and several species of seabird, and is notably the site of the first extinction of a mammal species due to
anthropogenic climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
, the
Bramble Cay melomys The Bramble Cay melomys, or Bramble Cay mosaic-tailed rat (''Melomys rubicola''), is a recently extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae and subfamily Murinae. It was an endemic species of the isolated Bramble Cay, a low-lying vegetat ...
. There is an automated
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...
on the island.


Geology

The island was formed around a "
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
outcrop produced by
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
volcanic activity and is composed of foraminiferal sand, compacted guano and, at its south-eastern end, a low phosphatic rock platform".


History

Before being named by Europeans, the name of the island in the Meriam Mir language of the people of Mer Island was and is Maizab Kaur (also spelt Maizub Kaur). People from Erub have been visiting the island for many generations, to hunt and gather food and to look after the environment. Certain families have ancestral connections with the cay. The cay marks the entrance to the
Great North East Channel Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great ...
through the Torres Strait, which has made it significant to human history. The name, Bramble Cay, derives from European surveyors on , who came upon the island in April 1845. In 1862, a mining lease was granted to the Anglo-Australian Guano Company and occasionally boats would come to mine the low grade phosphatic rock but due to its low quality, the company did not create a permanent base there. It has been the site of at least five shipwrecks, resulting in
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...
being deposited on the cay. The first
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...
, a pyramidal steel tower, was erected in 1924. It was demolished in 1954 and replaced by the present lighthouse, a stainless steel tower, which was equipped with
solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...
on 6 January 1987.


Geography

The sand cay is in size, and lies about north of
Erub Island Darnley Island or ''Erub'' in the native Papuan language, Meriam Mir, is an island formed by volcanic action and situated in the eastern section of the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the Torres Strait Islands and is locat ...
(aka Darnley Island), in the
Gulf of Papua The Gulf of Papua is located in the southern coast region of New Guinea. It has a total surface area of . Geography Some of New Guinea's largest rivers, such as the Fly River, Turama River, Kikori River, Purari River, and Wawoi River flow ...
, around northeast of Cape York. It is also known by the name of Massaramcoer. It is surrounded by a relatively small
coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...
and is relatively isolated from other reefs in the
Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...
. There are some bare patches of compacted
guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
depressions that hold water during the
wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...
. Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under
Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU)
licence.
About to the southwest are the Black Rocks, also called ''Rebes'', which rise one metre above the water. Three kilometres northeast, maps show submerged Nautilus Reef, the
existence Existence is the ability of an entity to interact with reality. In philosophy, it refers to the ontological property of being. Etymology The term ''existence'' comes from Old French ''existence'', from Medieval Latin ''existentia/exsistentia' ...
of which is doubtful. Bramble Cay and the reefs and rocks close by are separated from other reefs and islets further south by
Bligh Channel Bligh may refer to: Surname * Anna Bligh (born 1960), Australian politician * George Miller Bligh (1780–1834), British naval officer, son of Richard Rodney Bligh * Jasmine Bligh (1913–1991), British television presenter * Richard Bligh (178 ...
(Bligh Entrance). To the north and northwest, the Great North East Channel separates them from the coast of
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
( Parama Island), which is to the north. The closest islet is uninhabited Underdown Islet, about south.
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
(PNG), specifically Parama Island, is west-northwest. The Papua New Guinean city of Daru, the capital of Western Province, is some west of Bramble Cay. Bramble Cay is the closest island to the mouth of the Fly River in PNG (at around southeast). The automatic lighthouse, located east of the centre of the cay, is the only human structure on the island. It is maintained by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. The cement base of the old (1958) temporary lighthouse tower, once located near the centre of the cay, now sits towards the south-eastern side of the cay at the
high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables c ...
mark. It is the most northerly navigation aid in Australia, at latitude 9°08.5' S. It also marks the northern end 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, A ...
.


Flora and fauna

The cay is predominantly vegetated by three
herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...
plants, to about in height. Although 11 species of plants have been recorded on the island in the past, only three to five species have been recorded as present at the same time. Common species include ''
Portulaca oleracea ''Portulaca oleracea'' (common purslane, also known as little hogweed, or pursley) is an annual (actually tropical perennial in USDA growing zones 10–11) succulent in the family Portulacaceae. Description The plant may reach in height. It ...
'', '' Boerhavia albiflora'', ''
Cenchrus echinatus ''Cenchrus echinatus'' is a species of grass known by the common names southern sandbur, spiny sandbur, southern sandspur, and in Australia, Mossman River grass.Amaranthus viridis ''Amaranthus viridis'' is a cosmopolitan species in the botanical family Amaranthaceae and is commonly known as slender amaranth or green amaranth. Description ''Amaranthus viridis'' is an annual herb with an upright, light green stem that grows ...
''. Three species were found in 1994: ''Boerhavia tetrandra'' G.Forst. (genus '' Boerhavia''), a type of
spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed either f ...
eaten by humans; ''
Amaranthus viridis ''Amaranthus viridis'' is a cosmopolitan species in the botanical family Amaranthaceae and is commonly known as slender amaranth or green amaranth. Description ''Amaranthus viridis'' is an annual herb with an upright, light green stem that grows ...
'' and '' Lepturus repens''. The same study (published 1998) showed significant loss of vegetation since 1924, mostly on the southern and northern shores of the island. The island was once home to the
Bramble Cay melomys The Bramble Cay melomys, or Bramble Cay mosaic-tailed rat (''Melomys rubicola''), is a recently extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae and subfamily Murinae. It was an endemic species of the isolated Bramble Cay, a low-lying vegetat ...
, an isolated species of
rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
that was the first mammal species to be declared extinct as a consequence of human-caused
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
. Bramble Cay is the largest nesting site of
green turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...
s in the Torres Strait (as of 2008). It also supports the only large
seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...
colony in the region. A variety of birds nest on the northern side of the cay, with the
crested tern The greater crested tern Retrieved 28 February 2012 (''Thalasseus bergii''), also called crested tern or swift tern, is a tern in the family Laridae that nests in dense colonies on coastlines and islands in the tropical and subtropical Old Wo ...
the most common one observed in the 1990s. Other species observed at that time included the
sooty tern The sooty tern (''Onychoprion fuscatus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans, returning to land only to breed on islands throughout the equatorial zone. Taxonomy The sooty tern was described by Carl Linnae ...
, common noddy,
brown booby The brown booby (''Sula leucogaster'') is a large seabird of the booby family Sulidae, of which it is perhaps the most common and widespread species. It has a pantropical range, which overlaps with that of other booby species. The gregarious bro ...
, and seven other species. The surrounding sea is rich with
algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular micr ...
and algae-loving fish such as unicornfish,
wrasse The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with over 600 species in 81 genera, which are divided into 9 subgroups or tribes. They are typically small, most of them le ...
and
trumpetfish The trumpetfishes are three species of highly specialized, tubularly-elongated marine fishes in the genus ''Aulostomus'', of the monogeneric family Aulostomidae. The trumpetfishes are members of the order Syngnathiformes, together with the seah ...
.


Governance

Administratively, Bramble Cay is part of the Shire of Torres, specifically of the Eastern Islands Region. Although the island is located north of the Seabed and Fisheries Jurisdiction Line between Australia and Papua New Guinea, the Australian sovereignty is undisputed and explicitly recognized by Papua New Guinea. Customary tenure of Bramble Cay is held by the people of Erub (Darnley), the closest inhabited island, south-southwest. Darnley Islanders travel to Bramble Cay to collect turtle and bird eggs during the nesting season, and also grant people of the neighbouring Eastern Islands, Ugar (Stephens Island) and Mer (Murray Island), permission to collect.


In the arts

In August 2021, a group of artists from
Erub Island Darnley Island or ''Erub'' in the native Papuan language, Meriam Mir, is an island formed by volcanic action and situated in the eastern section of the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the Torres Strait Islands and is locat ...
created a series of works called ''Maizab Kaur Mukeis'' (the Meriam Mir name for the Bramble Cay melomys), consisting of sculptures of the animal made with ghost nets. The work was inspired by the news of its extinction, with the artists hoping to create awareness of the damage caused by the abandoned fishing nets to marine
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...
s. The work was selected as one of four Queensland finalists for the
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is Australia's longest running Indigenous art award. Established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwi ...
(NATSIAA).


References


External links


Wetland mapping — Bramble Cay 100K map tile
Queensland Government. {{Torres Strait , state=autocollapse Torres Strait Islands Islands of Queensland Uninhabited islands of Australia