Here's a few photos I took of the vast mudflats on a recent flight over Broome and Derby in Western Australia. To read about the process I use to photograph through a plane window, and to see some of my other aerial images please click here. Thanks, Paul.
The coast that wraps around the towns of Broome and Derby in Western Australia has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world. In addition to the powering action of the moons gravity, the tide here is also hugely influenced by the shape of the coast and by the particularly shallow north-west continental shelf. As water is pushed in from deeper offshore (attracted by the pull of the moon), it's squeezed over the shallow continental shelf. This increase in pressure causes the currents to increase and these force the water further and faster towards the shore. In Broome tides can reach as high as 9 metres but the effect of 'continental shelf squeezing' is even more pronounced around Derby...
Mudflats South of Broome, photo from a plane, Paul Williams
Mudflats South of Broome, photo from a plane, Paul Williams
Derby is located on the south coast of King sound, a 120km long channel of shallow continental shelf. Here the water is constrained on both sides and as it's squeezed into the channel it's forced up the sound at speeds of up to 20cms per second, resulting in tides as high as 11.8 metres (the highest occur in the Bay of Fundy, Canada, where tides can be as high as 15 metres.) When the tides retreat they expose a vast area of mudflats, home to a unique intertidal ecosystem and a feeding ground for millions of birds.
Derby is located on the southern coast of King Sound, NASA World Wind Programme
Derby mudflats, Paul Williams
Road across the mudflats at Derby, Paul Williams
