Jardine River

Course

The headwaters of the river rise southwest of Helby Hill in the Great Dividing Range and flow in a north westerly direction parallel to the McHenry River through the Apudthama National Park. The McHenry eventually discharges into the Jardine, which continues north west combining with multiple other tributaries as it flows into the flatlands of the Jardine Swamps. It eventually discharges into Endeavour Strait near Van Spoult Head opposite Prince of Wales Island and into the northern waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria, part of the Coral Sea.

Unlike other tropical rivers in Northern Australia, the Jardine flows all year round as the catchment receives sufficient rainfall throughout the year for it to do so.

The river catchment occupies an area of 3282 km2 of mostly uninhabited country; some 219 km2 of the catchment is made up of mostly freshwater wetlands. The river has a mean annual discharge of 2190 GL.

Fauna

A total of 46 species of fish are found in the river, including sailfin glassfish, Macleay's glassfish, barred grunter, marbled eel, hardyhead, pennyfish, mouth almighty, goby, empire gudgeon, barramundi, oxeye herring, northern trout gudgeon, seven-spot archerfish and banded rainbowfish.

The Jardine River painted turtle, previously thought to have been extinct after not being sighted in the river for 20 years, was discovered in the Jardine again in 2014. A team of Apudthama Cape York rangers and scientists from Origin Energy have trapped 24 of the turtles at two different locations using new trapping methods.

History

The traditional owners of the area are the Unjadi and Ankamuti peoples, who have lived in the area for thousands of years.

The river is named after the explorers and pioneers Frank Jardine and Alexander Jardine. The men came across the river as part of their 1864 expedition through Far North Queensland. In early 1865 the Jardines had just survived a pitched battle with the local Indigenous Australians and had some horses drown while crossing the Batavia River. The party was low on ammunition and food when they came across a stream they thought was an escape but was not; they named it Deception River. The name was later changed by the government of George Bowen to the Jardine River.

References

References

1. "East Coastal Watersheds".
2. "Map of Jardine River, QLD". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia.
3. (1991). "Cape York. An Adventurer's Guide". Kakirra Adventure Publications.
4. (22 February 2012). "Jardine River National Park: Nature, culture and history". Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing.
5. "Jardine River drainage sub-basin". [[Queensland Government]].
6. "Jardine river sub-basin within the Jardine – Pascoe Sandstones sub-bioregion". [[Queensland Government]].
7. "Jardine River catchment". Fish Atlas of North Australia.
8. (29 August 2014). "Queensland's 'fluoro' Jardine River turtles sighted for first time in 20 year". Brisbane Times.
9. "Unjadi". Ausanthrop.
10. "Ankamuti". Ausanthrop.
11. {{cite QPN. 41953. Jardine River
12. (8 February 1892). "Origin of Queensland names". [[The Brisbane Courier]].
13. "Exploring Tropical Territory: The Jardine Expedition". Central Queensland History.