BEAGLE & PENDER BAYS – Chart AUS 323
BEAGLE BAY
Beagle
Bay
was
discovered and named in
1838
by
captain
Wickham and John Lort
Stokes after their ship
H.M.S. Beagle.
The bay was later used
as a secure anchorage
for the pearling fleet
which operated from
the
Robinson
and
Norman pearling camp
at
the
mouth
of
Alligator Creek south
of Tooker Point.
The Beagle Bay Mission at the head on the bay, was supplied by vessels anchoring in the bay, until the
1935 cyclone wiped out the pearlers and the Mission vessel HMC.
Beagle Bay is wide open to the northwest. However,
there are protected anchorages from the prevailing
south-easterlies off the sandy beaches and fringing
reef on the eastern side of the bay south of Cliff
Point. One is at 16o 51.98S, 122o 32.78E. Alternative
anchorages on the western side of the bay off Tooker
Point and Ledge Point are tenable up to about 15 knots
of easterly wind. The morning easterly wind is usually
replaced by a light seabreeze in the afternoon during
the July to September cruising season.
The photo (left) showing
the remains of the
moorings at the old
lugger camp was taken by staff of the
WA Museum carrying out a wreck survey
of the WA coast in 1978.
The photo (right) showing an anchor lying on the sand flats at the camp,
was taken by the author in 1982. All sorts of pearling related "relics"
lie on the upper beach and in the sparse bush above the high water
mark at the mouth of Norman Creek.
In 1982, Steve Arrow was setting up a cultured pearl farm using the
old style rafts made from 44 gallon drums and mangrove saplings
lashed
together
with
stainless steel wire. This was
back-breaking work in the
tropical sun, as can be seen in
the photo left.
A small launch (right) was
used to transport men and equipment between the shore camp at
Tooker Point and the rafts in the bay. The Broome lugger "D.McD"
was the supply ship.
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By 2002, rafts had disappeared from Beagle Bay, only to be replaced
by the ubiquitous black buoys moored in the well marked central area
of the bay. The camp at Tooker Point has been upgraded to a large
shed, aluminium workboats are used for tending the pearls, and supplies
are shipped in on the large cat "DMB" shown here on the beach in
Broome in early 2005.
BEAGLE BAY MISSION
The Catholic Mission at Beagle Bay
was established by the French
Trappist Monks in the late 1800's
and was subsequently taken over by
the Pallottine Monks in the early
1900's. The church (left & right)
was built from bricks made from local
clay mixed with mud. The mortar
was manufactured by burning shells and oysters to make lime, which was
mixed with water to form mortar for bonding bricks and facing the walls.
A unique feature of the Beagle Bay church is the altar and tabernacle
(left) which are ornately decorated with local pearl shells. More
information on the history of the mission and the construction of the
church can be obtained from the Pallottine web site.
PENDER BAY
A short cruise north of Beagle Bay past two small, shallow and exposed bays, named Trappers Inlet and
Middle Lagoon, is the large, shallow and very open Pender Bay. The southern shores are divided into two
unnamed rather shallow bays, one either side of Bell Point. The western bay is a reasonable anchorage in
moderate winds, although the north west swell can be a problem for keel boats.
Weedon (or Weedong) Lagoon is located
in the southern part of the eastern bay
and is renowned for the appearance of
small stone aboriginal relics exposed by
the shifting sands (left) and the fragile
freshwater ecosystem which supports
unique plant and animal life (right).
Acknowledgments
The text and photos for this page were pieced together from published sources including "Kimberley -
Dreaming to Diamonds" by Hugh Edwards, "A Guide to the Kimberley Coast" by Len Zell, the 1978 WINC
Report by Scott Sledge of the WA Maritime Museum, and the Pallottine web site. Information was also
collected from personal communication with staff at the Beagle Bay Pearl Farm in 1982 and 2003.