| Botany Bay | |
|---|---|
| Kamay/Gamay, Sting Ray Harbour[1] | |
.jpg) Aerial photo ofSydney showing Botany Bay in the foreground. The two protrusions into the bay are runways ofSydney Airport. | |
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  Botany Bay | |
| Location | Sydney,New South Wales, Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°59′59″S151°13′59″E / 33.99972°S 151.23306°E /-33.99972; 151.23306 |
| Type | Bay[2] |
| Primary inflows | Georges River, Cooks River |
| Primary outflows | Tasman Sea |
| Catchment area | 54.9 km2 (21.2 sq mi) |
| Max. length | 10 km (6.2 mi) |
| Surface area | 39.6 km2 (15.3 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 11.4 m (37 ft) |
| Water volume | 440,815,800 m3 (1.556726×1010 cu ft) |
| Website | NSW Environment & Heritage webpage |
Botany Bay (Dharawal:Kamay) is an openoceanic embayment,[2] located inSydney,New South Wales, Australia, 13 km (8 mi) south of theSydney central business district. Its source is theconfluence of theGeorges River atTaren Point andSans Souci as well as theCooks River atKyeemagh, which flows 10 km (6 mi) to the east before meeting itsmouth at theTasman Sea, midpoint between the suburbs ofLa Perouse andKurnell. The northern headland of the entrance to the bay from the Tasman Sea is Cape Banks, and, on the southern side, the outer headland isCape Solander, and the inner headland isSutherland Point.
The total catchment area of the bay is approximately 55 km2 (21 sq mi). Despite its relative shallowness, the bay now serves as greater metropolitan Sydney's maincargoseaport, located atPort Botany, withfacilities managed bySydney Ports Corporation. Two runways ofSydney Airport extend into the bay, as do some port facilities.Kamay Botany Bay National Park is located on the northern and southern headlands of the bay. The area surrounding the bay is generally managed byTransport for NSW.
The land adjacent to Botany Bay was settled for many millennia by the Tharawal and Eora peoples and their associated clans. On 29 April 1770, Botany Bay was the site of James Cook's first landing of His Majesty's Bark Endeavour on the land mass of Australia, after his extensive navigation of New Zealand. Later, the British planned Botany Bay as the site for apenal colony. Out of these plans came the firstEuropean habitation of Australia atSydney Cove. Although the penal settlement was almost immediately shifted to Sydney Cove, for some time in Britain, transportation to "Botany Bay" was a metonym for transportation to any of the Australian penal colonies.
Archaeological evidence from the shores of Botany Bay has revealed an Aboriginal settlement dating back 5,000 years. The Aboriginal people of Sydney were the Eora, the Dharawal, and the Dharug, who comprised at least 28 known clans with traditional boundaries. The clans of the Botany Bay area were theGweagal who occupied the south shore and theKamaygal on the north shore. It is possible that theBidjigal clan lived between the Cooks River and the Georges River, but the evidence for this is unclear.[3][4]
Botany Bay is namedKamay in theDharawal language.[5][6]
Lieutenant James Cook first landed atKurnell, on the southern banks of Botany Bay, in what is nowSilver Beach, on Sunday 29 April 1770, when navigating his way up the east coast of Australia on his ship,HMSEndeavour. Initially the nameStingrays Harbour was used by Cook and other journal keepers on his expedition, for thestingrays they caught.[7] That name was also recorded on an Admiralty chart.[8] Cook's log for 6 May 1770 records "The great quantity of these sort of fish found in this place occasioned my giving it the name of Stingrays Harbour". However, in the journal prepared later from his log, Cook wrote instead: (sic) "The great quantity of plants Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found in this place occasioned my giving it the name ofBotanist Botany Bay".[note 1][8] Cape Banks is named afterJoseph Banks andCape Solander afterDaniel Solander.
18 years later, GovernorArthur Phillip sailed the armed tenderHMSSupply into the bay on 18 January 1788.First contact was made with the localIndigenous people, theEora, who seemed curious but suspicious of the newcomers. Two days later, the remaining ships of theFirst Fleet arrived to found the plannedpenal colony. The land was quickly ruled unsuitable for settlement as there was insufficient fresh water; Phillip also believed the swampy foreshores would render any colony unhealthy as the bay was open and unprotected, the water was too shallow to allow the ships to anchor close to the shore, and the soil was poor.[9]
The area was studded with enormously strong trees. When the convicts tried to cut them down, their tools broke, and the tree trunks had to be blasted out of the ground with gunpowder. The primitive huts built for the officers and officials quickly collapsed in rainstorms. Crucially, Phillip worried that his fledgling colony was exposed to attack fromAboriginal peoples or foreign powers. Although his initial instructions were to establish the colony at Botany Bay, he was authorised to establish the colony elsewhere if necessary.[10] As such, Phillip decided instead to move to the excellent natural harbour ofPort Jackson to the north.[11]
On the morning of 24 January, theFrench exploratory expedition ofJean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was seen outside Botany Bay. On 26 January, theSupply left the bay to move up to Port Jackson and anchor inSydney Cove. On the afternoon of 26 January, the remaining ships of the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove. In 1789, CaptainJohn Hunter surveyed Botany Bay after returning from theCape of Good Hope, trading for grain. The good supply of fresh water in the area led to an expansion of its population in the 19th century.
The western shore of Botany Bay remained in its virgin state for almost 50 years after the initial settlement ofSydney Town. Access to the area was difficult until a route from the west was established viaCanterbury, New South Wales. As this route developed, it became known as Illawarra Road, which remains one of the main access routes to the eastern suburbs of Sydney. The land nearer to this crossing ofCooks River was cleared and settled quite early in the infancy of the new colony.
Sydney Airport, Australia's busiest airport, sits on the northwestern side of Botany Bay. Some of its runways go out into the bay. AfterWorld War II the mouth of theCooks River was moved two kilometres west to make way for the airport extension. Land was reclaimed from the bay to extend its first north–south runway and to build a second, parallel runway.
The first container terminal at Port Botany, located east of the airport, was completed in the 1970s and is the largest container terminal in Sydney. A second container terminal was completed during the 1980s, and bulk liquid storage facilities are located on the northern and southern edges of the bay. A third container terminal was completed in 2011.
The land around the headlands of the bay is protected by theNSW National Parks & Wildlife Service asKamay Botany Bay National Park. On the northern side of the mouth of the bay is the historic site of La Perouse, and to the south is Kurnell. Despite its relative isolation, the southern shore of the bay is dominated by an unusual mixture of pristine national park and heavy industrial use that includesSydney Desalination Plant, theCaltex Fuel Terminal, sewer treatment, and historicalsand mining facilities.[12] On the southern side of the bay a section of water has been fenced off under the authority of the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service atTowra Point for environmental conservation purposes.
The western shores of the bay feature many popular swimming beaches includingLady Robinsons Beach and are highly urbanised.
There are also a lot of bunkers around Botany Bay. The bunkers were built by the military during World War II and still remain in place.[13]
Botany Bay has a diverse marine population, and the area around its entrance is a popular spot for scuba diving. In 2008, the Botany Bay Watch Project began with volunteers assisting to monitor and protect the Botany Bay Catchment and its unique marine life.[14]
The world's largest population of weedy sea dragons ever surveyed is found at the 'Steps' dive site, on the Kurnell side of Botany Bay National Park. Weedy sea dragons are just one of hundreds of territorial marine creatures found within Botany Bay. Theeastern blue groper[15] is the state fish of New South Wales; it is very tame and is commonly found following divers along the shoreline of Botany Bay.
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