Roebuck Bay
Encyclopedia
Roebuck Bay is a bay
on the coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia
. Its entrance is bounded in the north by the town of Broome
, and in the south by Bush Point and Sandy Point. It is named after HMS Roebuck
, the ship captained by William Dampier
when he explored the coast of north-western Australia in 1699. The Broome Bird Observatory
lies on the northern coast of the bay.
s, with the eastern edge of the bay being made up of linear tidal creeks
. It is surrounded by grassland
s and pindan
woodland
.
The northern shore of the bay is dominated by a long and low red cliff, 2–6 m in height, of pindan soil
which gives the beaches there their distinctive red colouration. It overlies yellowish-red Broome Sandstone
of Cretaceous
age which, when exposed at the base of the cliff, shows occasional fossil footprints
of dinosaur
s.
Landward of the mangrove-lined creeks along the eastern shore are bare flats that are only flooded on high spring tides, with the hypersaline soil inhibiting the establishment of vegetation, except for some areas of samphire
.
, Bsh). The wet season spans the austral summer, with most of the year's annual precipatation falling during this period, primarily in the form of severe tropical thunderstorms. The lengthier dry season occupies the remainder of the year, typically from May to November, when the temperatures are slightly cooler yet still very warm, and rainfall is extremely light and rare to nearly non-existent. Annual precipatation totals vary locally across the bay; they range from 300 to 550 mm a year. High temparatures during the oppressive austral summer months that frequently exceed 38°C (100°F), coupled with uncomfortably high humidity, contribute to often sweltering conditions from November to March, with the highest temperatures and most oppressive humidity typically experienced in February in and around the bay.
which exposes around 160 km2 of mudflats, 45% of the total bay area, with the tide edge travelling at up to 20 cm per second. Most of the mudflats are inundated each high tide; spring tides or cyclone
s may also flood adjoining coastal flats. The tidal system is semi-diurnal
with an average amplitude
of 5.7 m, varying from 1 m on neap tides to 10.5 m on the highest spring tides. These tidal conditions dominate the intertidal ecology
.
and Yawuru
Aboriginal
peoples. The bay was important for seasonal meetings, exchanging gifts, arranging marriages and settling disputes. Many shellfish
midden
s, marking former camping sites, are visible along the coastal cliffs and dunes. Indigenous people continue to make extensive use of the bay’s natural resources by gathering shellfish, fishing and hunting.
On 7 June 1990 some 34,219 ha of the bay and its immediate surrounds were designated as a wetland of international importance, Ramsar Site 479, under the Ramsar Convention
.
and crustacean
s, particularly prawn
s. Extensive seagrass
beds across the bay are feeding grounds for Dugong
s and Green Turtles. Other marine turtles and dolphin
s also regularly use the bay.
invertebrate
s, providing a key food source for wader
s or shorebirds. The site is one of the most important migration
staging, and non-breeding, areas for waders in Australia
and within the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
. It is a principal spring arrival site in August–October for large proportions of the Australian populations of many species, and especially for the larger ones that travel non-stop from China to Australia. There is high turnover due to the birds moving onwards to south-western and south-eastern Australia, though large numbers remain through summer, and smaller numbers of non-breeding birds stay through winter. The area is also important for the northward movement of waders in autumn, with massed daytime departures taking place in March–April. The total number of waders using the bay each year is estimated to be over 300,000. The northern beaches of the bay, as well as Bush Point, provide important high tide roost sites.
The bay’s wader feeding habitats and roosting sites have been identified by BirdLife International
as a 928 km2 Important Bird Area
(IBA). The IBA also encompasses the low-lying, occasionally inundated, coastal grassland
s to the east of the bay on Roebuck Plains Station
, including Lake Eda, where many waders roost during very high tides.
The bay regularly supports more than 1% of the population of at least 22 wader species: Greater Sand Plover
, Lesser Sand Plover
, Oriental Plover
, Red-capped Plover
, Grey Plover
, Bar-tailed Godwit
, Black-tailed Godwit
, Red Knot
, Great Knot
, Red-necked Stint
, Curlew Sandpiper
, Sanderling
, Eastern Curlew, Little Curlew
, Whimbrel
, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank
, Grey-tailed Tattler
, Terek Sandpiper
, Ruddy Turnstone
, Asian Dowitcher, and Pied Oystercatcher
.
activities such as fishing, sightseeing and birdwatching
. Broome Bird Observatory
conducts shorebird research and public education.
from Angle Pole
across the border in the Northern Territory
. This railway would have been about 1000 miles (1600 km) long.
Roebuck Bay, with its sheltered waters, was the site chosen for the undersea telegraph cable
from Asia to come ashore in 1871, to continue overland to Perth
. This line is not to be confused with the Australian Overland Telegraph Line
.
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...
on the coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. Its entrance is bounded in the north by the town of Broome
Broome, Western Australia
Broome is a pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. The year round population is approximately 14,436, growing to more than 45,000 per month during the tourist season...
, and in the south by Bush Point and Sandy Point. It is named after HMS Roebuck
HMS Roebuck (1690)
HMS Roebuck was a small ship of the Royal Navy and, under the command of William Dampier, carried the first English scientific expedition to Australia.- Early career before Dampier :...
, the ship captained by William Dampier
William Dampier
William Dampier was an English buccaneer, sea captain, author and scientific observer...
when he explored the coast of north-western Australia in 1699. The Broome Bird Observatory
Broome Bird Observatory
Broome Bird Observatory is an educational, scientific and recreational facility located 24 km from Broome in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It began operating in 1988 under the auspices of the non-profit organisation Birds Australia in order to provide a base for the study and...
lies on the northern coast of the bay.
Description
Roebuck Bay is a 550 km2 (210 mi2) tropical, marine embayment. It has red sandy beaches and areas of mangroveMangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
s, with the eastern edge of the bay being made up of linear tidal creeks
Creek (tidal)
A tidal creek, tidal channel, or estuary is the portion of a stream that is affected by ebb and flow of ocean tides, in the case that the subject stream discharges to an ocean, sea or strait. Thus this portion of the stream has variable salinity and electrical conductivity over the tidal cycle...
. It is surrounded by grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
s and pindan
Pindan
Pindan is a name given to the red-soil country of the south-western Kimberley region of Western Australia. The word “pindan” was first mentioned in print in August 1884 in the Perth Inquirer...
woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
.
The northern shore of the bay is dominated by a long and low red cliff, 2–6 m in height, of pindan soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
which gives the beaches there their distinctive red colouration. It overlies yellowish-red Broome Sandstone
Broome Sandstone
The Broome Sandstone is a Mesozoic geologic formation found in Western Australia, and formerly considered part of Dampier Group. Fossil stegosaur tracks have been reported from the formation.-See also:* List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations...
of Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
age which, when exposed at the base of the cliff, shows occasional fossil footprints
Ichnite
An ichnite is a fossilised footprint. This is a type of trace fossil. Over the years, many ichnites have been found, around the world, giving important clues about the behaviour of the animals that made them...
of dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s.
Landward of the mangrove-lined creeks along the eastern shore are bare flats that are only flooded on high spring tides, with the hypersaline soil inhibiting the establishment of vegetation, except for some areas of samphire
Samphire
Samphire is a name given to a number of very different edible plants that happen to grow in coastal areas.*Rock samphire, Crithmum maritimum is a coastal species with white flowers that grows in the United Kingdom...
.
Climate
Roebuck Bay experiences a hot semi-arid climate (KöppenKöppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
, Bsh). The wet season spans the austral summer, with most of the year's annual precipatation falling during this period, primarily in the form of severe tropical thunderstorms. The lengthier dry season occupies the remainder of the year, typically from May to November, when the temperatures are slightly cooler yet still very warm, and rainfall is extremely light and rare to nearly non-existent. Annual precipatation totals vary locally across the bay; they range from 300 to 550 mm a year. High temparatures during the oppressive austral summer months that frequently exceed 38°C (100°F), coupled with uncomfortably high humidity, contribute to often sweltering conditions from November to March, with the highest temperatures and most oppressive humidity typically experienced in February in and around the bay.
Tides
The bay has a very large tidal rangeTidal range
The tidal range is the vertical difference between the high tide and the succeeding low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth...
which exposes around 160 km2 of mudflats, 45% of the total bay area, with the tide edge travelling at up to 20 cm per second. Most of the mudflats are inundated each high tide; spring tides or cyclone
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
s may also flood adjoining coastal flats. The tidal system is semi-diurnal
Diurnal cycle
A diurnal cycle is any pattern that recurs every 24 hours as a result of one full rotation of the Earth.In climatology, the diurnal cycle is one of the most basic forms of climate patterns. The most familiar such pattern is the diurnal temperature variation...
with an average amplitude
Amplitude
Amplitude is the magnitude of change in the oscillating variable with each oscillation within an oscillating system. For example, sound waves in air are oscillations in atmospheric pressure and their amplitudes are proportional to the change in pressure during one oscillation...
of 5.7 m, varying from 1 m on neap tides to 10.5 m on the highest spring tides. These tidal conditions dominate the intertidal ecology
Intertidal ecology
Intertidal ecology is the study of intertidal ecosystems, where organisms live between the low and high tide lines. At low tide, the intertidal is exposed whereas at high tide, the intertidal is underwater...
.
History
Roebuck Bay lies in the traditional country of the JukunJukun people (Australia)
The Jukun are an Indigenous Australian people of Western Australia....
and Yawuru
Yawuru people (Australia)
The Yawuru are an Indigenous Australian people of Western Australia. The Yawuru people are the native title holders of the Western Australian town of Broome, including pockets of land in and around the townsite and two pastoral stations. Patrick and Mick Dodson are prominent Yawuru Australians....
Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
peoples. The bay was important for seasonal meetings, exchanging gifts, arranging marriages and settling disputes. Many shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
midden
Midden
A midden, is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, vermin, shells, sherds, lithics , and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation...
s, marking former camping sites, are visible along the coastal cliffs and dunes. Indigenous people continue to make extensive use of the bay’s natural resources by gathering shellfish, fishing and hunting.
On 7 June 1990 some 34,219 ha of the bay and its immediate surrounds were designated as a wetland of international importance, Ramsar Site 479, under the Ramsar Convention
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
.
Flora and fauna
Eleven mangrove species are found in Roebuck Bay. The mangrove swamps that line the eastern and southern edges of the bay and extend into the tidal creeks are important nursery areas for marine fishFish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, particularly prawn
Prawn
Prawns are decapod crustaceans of the sub-order Dendrobranchiata. There are 540 extant species, in seven families, and a fossil record extending back to the Devonian...
s. Extensive seagrass
Seagrass
Seagrasses are flowering plants from one of four plant families , all in the order Alismatales , which grow in marine, fully saline environments.-Ecology:...
beds across the bay are feeding grounds for Dugong
Dugong
The dugong is a large marine mammal which, together with the manatees, is one of four living species of the order Sirenia. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest modern relative, Steller's sea cow , was hunted to extinction in the 18th century...
s and Green Turtles. Other marine turtles and dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
s also regularly use the bay.
Waders
The intertidal mud and sand flats support high densities of benthicBenthos
Benthos is the community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone. This community lives in or near marine sedimentary environments, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental shelf, and then down to the abyssal depths.Many organisms...
invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s, providing a key food source for wader
Wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
s or shorebirds. The site is one of the most important migration
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
staging, and non-breeding, areas for waders in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and within the East Asian - Australasian Flyway
East Asian - Australasian Flyway
The East Asian–Australasian Flyway is one of the world's great flyways. At its northernmost it stretches eastwards from the Taimyr Peninsula in Russia to Alaska. Its southern end encompasses Australia and New Zealand. Between these extremes the Flyway covers much of eastern Asia, including China,...
. It is a principal spring arrival site in August–October for large proportions of the Australian populations of many species, and especially for the larger ones that travel non-stop from China to Australia. There is high turnover due to the birds moving onwards to south-western and south-eastern Australia, though large numbers remain through summer, and smaller numbers of non-breeding birds stay through winter. The area is also important for the northward movement of waders in autumn, with massed daytime departures taking place in March–April. The total number of waders using the bay each year is estimated to be over 300,000. The northern beaches of the bay, as well as Bush Point, provide important high tide roost sites.
The bay’s wader feeding habitats and roosting sites have been identified by BirdLife International
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...
as a 928 km2 Important Bird Area
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...
(IBA). The IBA also encompasses the low-lying, occasionally inundated, coastal grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
s to the east of the bay on Roebuck Plains Station
Cattle station
Cattle station is an Australian term for a large farm , whose main activity is the rearing of cattle. In Australia, the owner of a cattle station is called a grazier...
, including Lake Eda, where many waders roost during very high tides.
The bay regularly supports more than 1% of the population of at least 22 wader species: Greater Sand Plover
Greater Sand Plover
The Greater Sand Plover, Charadrius leschenaultii, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The spelling is commonly given as "Greater sandplover", but the official British Ornithologists' Union spelling is "Greater sand plover"....
, Lesser Sand Plover
Lesser Sand Plover
The Lesser Sand Plover, Charadrius mongolus, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The spelling is commonly given as Lesser Sandplover, but the official British Ornithologists' Union spelling is Lesser Sand Plover....
, Oriental Plover
Oriental Plover
The Oriental Plover, Charadrius veredus, also known as the Oriental Dotterel, is a medium-sized Charadriine plover closely related to the Caspian Plover.- Description :...
, Red-capped Plover
Red-capped Plover
The Red-capped Plover , also known as the Red-capped Dotterel, is a small plover. It breeds in Australia. The species is closely related to the Kentish Plover, Javan Plover and White-fronted Plover.-Description:Red-capped Plovers have white underparts and forehead...
, Grey Plover
Grey Plover
The Grey Plover , known as the Black-bellied Plover in North America, is a medium-sized plover breeding in arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding....
, Bar-tailed Godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit
The Bar-tailed Godwit is a large wader in the family Scolopacidae, which breeds on Arctic coasts and tundra mainly in the Old World, and winters on coasts in temperate and tropical regions of the Old World...
, Black-tailed Godwit
Black-tailed Godwit
The Black-tailed Godwit, Limosa limosa, is a large, long-legged, long-billed shorebird first described by Carolus Linnaeus in 1758. It is a member of the Limosa genus, the godwits...
, Red Knot
Red Knot
The Red Knot, Calidris canutus , is a medium sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the Calidris sandpipers, second only to the Great Knot...
, Great Knot
Great Knot
The Great Knot, Calidris tenuirostris, is a small wader. It is the largest of the calidrid species.Their breeding habitat is tundra in northeast Siberia. They nest on the ground laying about four eggs in a ground scrape. They are strongly migratory wintering on coasts in southern Asia through to...
, Red-necked Stint
Red-necked Stint
The Red-necked Stint is a small migratory wader.- Description :These birds are among the smallest of waders, very similar to the Little Stint, Calidris minuta, with which they were once considered conspecific...
, Curlew Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
The Curlew Sandpiper is a small wader that breeds on the tundra of Arctic Siberia. It is strongly migratory, wintering mainly in Africa, but also in south and southeast Asia and in Australasia...
, Sanderling
Sanderling
The Sanderling is a small wader. It is a circumpolar Arctic breeder, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to South America, South Europe, Africa, and Australia...
, Eastern Curlew, Little Curlew
Little Curlew
The Little Curlew, Numenius minutus, is a wader in the large bird family Scolopacidae. It is a very small curlew, which breeds in the far north of Siberia. It is closely related to the North American Eskimo Curlew....
, Whimbrel
Whimbrel
The Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus, is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the mostwidespread of the curlews, breeding across much of subarctic North America, Europe and Asia as far south as Scotland....
, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank
Common Redshank
The Common Redshank or simply Redshank is an Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae.- Description and systematics :...
, Grey-tailed Tattler
Grey-tailed Tattler
The Grey-tailed Tattler, Tringa brevipes , is a small shorebird.- Description :...
, Terek Sandpiper
Terek Sandpiper
The Terek Sandpiper is a small migratory Palearctic wader species, the only member of the genus Xenus.- Description and systematics :...
, Ruddy Turnstone
Ruddy Turnstone
The Ruddy Turnstone is a small wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria. It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plover family Charadriidae...
, Asian Dowitcher, and Pied Oystercatcher
Pied Oystercatcher
The Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus longirostris, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. The similar South Island Pied Oystercatcher The Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus longirostris, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading...
.
Access and usage
Broome is a major tourist destination, and Roebuck Bay is used for recreational and tourismTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
activities such as fishing, sightseeing and birdwatching
Birdwatching
Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds. Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are...
. Broome Bird Observatory
Broome Bird Observatory
Broome Bird Observatory is an educational, scientific and recreational facility located 24 km from Broome in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It began operating in 1988 under the auspices of the non-profit organisation Birds Australia in order to provide a base for the study and...
conducts shorebird research and public education.
Transport and Communications
In the 1890s, Roebuck Bay was the terminus of a proposed but stillborn land grant railwayLand grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
from Angle Pole
Angle Pole
Angle Pole is a locality in the Northern Territory where the direction of the Telegraph Line changed to a more northerly direction.- Transport :...
across the border in the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
. This railway would have been about 1000 miles (1600 km) long.
Roebuck Bay, with its sheltered waters, was the site chosen for the undersea telegraph cable
Submarine communications cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean....
from Asia to come ashore in 1871, to continue overland to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. This line is not to be confused with the Australian Overland Telegraph Line
Australian Overland Telegraph Line
The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a 3200 km telegraph line that connected Darwin with Port Augusta in South Australia. Completed in 1872 the Overland Telegraph Line allowed fast communication between Australia and the rest of the world. An additional section was added in 1877 with the...
.