Port Hedland

History

Port Hedland is known by the Indigenous Kariyarra and Nyamal people as Marapikurrinya, which either means "place of good water" (as told by a Nyamal language speaker) and makes reference to the three reliable fresh water soaks that can still be seen in and around the town, or as the town council's website says "refers to the hand like formation of the tidal creeks coming off the harbour (marra - hand, pikurri - pointing straight and nya - a place name marker)". According to Dreamtime legend, there was a huge blind water snake living in the landlocked area of water known as Jalkawarrinya. This landlocked area is now the turning basin for the ships that enter the port and as the story goes, "the coming of the big ships meant it was unable to stay". The coastline in the area was seen by European mariners as early as 1628, when the Dutch merchant ship Vianen, captained by Gerrit Franszoon de Witt visited. Swedish-born mariner Peter Hedland was the first European to note the harbour's existence and the possibility of using it as a port. Peter Hedland arrived in the area in April 1863 on board his boat Mystery, which he had built himself at Point Walter on the banks of the Swan River. He named the harbour Mangrove Harbour and reported that it would make a good landing site with a well protected harbour, and that there was also fresh water available. However, the port was initially regarded as unusable, due to a sandbar that frequently sealed the entrance and thick mangroves around the shore; further, the narrow entrance made the harbour difficult to enter in bad weather. Later in 1863, government surveyor Joseph Beete Ridley examined Mangrove Harbour while exploring the country between Nicol Bay and the Fitzroy River, describing it as "an excellent anchorage and perfectly…

Most-observed species

• White-plumed Honeyeater

  Ptilotula penicillata (Gould, 1837) · Aves
  678
• Peaceful Dove

  Geopelia placida Gould, 1844 · Aves
  471
• Little Corella

  Cacatua sanguinea Gould, 1843 · Aves
  426
• Rainbow Bee-eater

  Merops ornatus Latham, 1801 · Aves
  365
• Whistling Kite

  Haliastur sphenurus (Vieillot, 1818) · Aves
  332
• Silver Gull

  Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae (Stephens, 1826) · Aves
  322
• Black-faced Cuckooshrike

  Coracina novaehollandiae (Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  311
• Crested Pigeon

  Ocyphaps lophotes (Temminck, 1822) · Aves
  299

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2026-09-19
  6 km E of South Hedland, Australia
• M 4.4 — 2024-07-11
  52 km E of South Hedland, Australia
• M 4.6 — 2005-05-18
  Western Australia