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The Wessel Islands is a group of uninhabited islands in the
Northern Territory of Australia The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
. They extend in a more or less straight line from Buckingham Bay and the Napier Peninsula of
Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...
, and Elcho Island, to the northeast. Marchinbar Island is the largest of the group. Other islands include Elcho Island, Rimbija Island (the most outlying island), Guluwuru, Raragala, Stevens Island, Burgunngura, Djeergaree, Yargara, Drysdale Island, Jirrgari Island, Graham Island, Alger Island, Abbott Island, and Howard Island. Bumaga Island and Warnawi Island, both part of the Wessel Islands group, are also part of the Cunningham Islands.


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 The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an s ...
.


European exploration 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 o ...
to explore the coasts of
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
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. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...
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 a peninsula 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 ...
, Melville Island (''Roode hoek''), and Dundas Strait (which he misidentified as a bay). 170 years later
Matthew Flinders Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...
decided to retain the name of the islands, though he slightly modified it to ''Wessel''. The cities of
Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...
and
Wesel Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel (district), Wesel district. Geography Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine. Division of the city Suburbs of Wesel i ...
, ultimate sources of the names of Arnhem Land and Wessel Islands, are themselves only 60 km (37 miles) separated. 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 (W ...
. It may have been introduced from
Makassar Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, 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, ...
by Makassan traders during the 1790s, though there is also evidence that smallpox spread from Sydney Cove, after 'variolous matter' was brought there in 1788 by the First Fleet. This dried matter from smallpox scabs was used in a technique called variolation, which was used as protection against the disease prior to the development of vaccination. By the early nineteenth century, many of the
Yolngu The Yolngu or Yolŋu ( or ) are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. ''Yolngu'' means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnuma ...
clans had been wiped out.


World War II and modern era

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, 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 Yolngu account of the incident, and attempts to save the survivors was taken down from one of the latter, Narritjin Maymuru. Since the 1960s, the islands have had no permanent settlements.


Extent and geography

The islands extend in a more or less straight line from Buckingham Bay and the Napier Peninsula of
Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...
, and Elcho Island, to the northeast. Marchinbar Island is the largest of the group. Other islands include Elcho Island, Rimbija Island (the most outlying island), Guluwuru, Raragala, Stevens Island, Burgunngura, Djeergaree, Yargara, Drysdale Island, 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 and Warnawi Island, both part of the Wessel Islands group, are also part of the Cunningham Islands. 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 (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...
deposits. Most of its bays are unnamed, with only three bearing names, including Picture Bay. Easterly
trade wind The trade winds or easterlies are 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 Hemisphere, ...
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.


Archaeology and ecology


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. 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 ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
, while the other five were determined to be from the Kilwa Sultanate in
Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
. 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.


Protection

Wessel is the name of the
IBRA The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeography, biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities ( ...
subregion based on the Islands area, as well as the Commonwealth marine reserve. The archipelago is known for its
biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...
, 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, inv ...
.


Plastic waste

Researchers from the
Charles Darwin University Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with two campuses in Darwin and six satellite campuses in metropolitan and regional areas of the Northern Territory. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Ter ...
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 cate ...
landing up on the islands was a worsening problem. Many types of plastics, including fishing gear, ghost nets, plastic bottles, cartons, and
styrofoam Styrofoam is a brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), manufactured to provide continuous building insulation board used in walls, roofs, and foundations as thermal insulation and as a water barrier. This material is light blue in ...
, have 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.


Transport

Locals visit the islands by boat. Tourists can get to Gove Airport from
Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
using Airnorth, and take tours from there.


See also

* Abbott Island (Wessel Islands)


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * * * * * * *


External links


Wessel Islands map
{{authority control Islands of the Northern Territory Yolngu Arnhem Land tropical savanna IBRA subregions