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[NASA] Bountiful Roebuck Bay 

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Earth Observatory
  1. This is the hidden content, please
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  3. Bountiful Roebuck Bay 
 
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Water covers intertidal mudflats around Roebuck Bay in Western Australia, as seen in this image captured by the
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(Operational Land Imager) on
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on March 18, 2026.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin

Editor’s Note: Today’s story is the answer to the

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.

Tides are among the clearest signs of the Moon’s pull on Earth. Just

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(385,000 kilometers) away, the Moon’s
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pulls on Earth’s
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and
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, subtly distorting them into a more oblong shape with
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roughly extending toward and away from the Moon.

High tides happen throughout Earth’s oceans, but in some places they leave an unusually strong fingerprint on the landscape. Among those places is Roebuck Bay, a crescent-shaped feature in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Roebuck Bay’s tidal range can reach a remarkable 9 meters (30 feet). Rising and falling tides repeatedly inundate and expose expansive mudflats, flood broad mangrove forests and salt marshes, and feed branching networks of tidal drainage channels. Many parts of Australia have tidal ranges of

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. But the large range at Roebuck Bay is mostly a consequence of northwestern Australia’s unusually wide, shallow
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, which helps amplify tides as they approach the coast.

The image at the top of the page shows the bay on March 18, 2026, when water levels were high. Green

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forests grow thickly along the shoreline and line the mouths of a network of evenly spaced, linear tidal creeks. These mangrove forests are dynamic.
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of decades of Landsat observations shows them
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by nearly 2 meters per year as
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from the waterways to the east accumulates in the sheltered bay.

Farther inland, branching networks of tidal drainage channels connect with the tidal creeks, giving the bay its feathered appearance. These channels, partially obscured by thick vegetation in March, were more visible earlier and later in the year, when vegetation was thinner.

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Around Roebuck Bay, inland vegetation greens after monsoon rains, peaking in March, and turns brown and dry by June. The
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8 and 9 satellites captured these images throughout 2026.
NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin

Monsoonal rains, typically falling between December and March, transform the landscape around the bay into lush grasslands and seasonal wetlands. As the rains fade in May and June and the dry season takes hold, these ephemeral grasses and sedge ecosystems die back, turning the landscape shades of gold and brown. The consistent spacing of the tidal creeks is likely not a tidal effect; it appears to be influenced by the regular spacing of linear dunes in the broader region, as seen in the

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.

The bay’s dramatic tidal and seasonal changes are striking from above, and they also support a bounty of life on the ground. The mangroves serve as nurseries for crustaceans and fish, and the mudflats teem with dozens of types of invertebrates, including snails, worms, crabs, clams, and cockles. Shells and snails can reach an abundance of

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, according to the *********** government.

This bounty of marine life is a major draw for birds. The bay, one of the most important sites for migratory birds in Australia and a key stop on the

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, regularly hosts hundreds of thousands of birds, including plovers, godwits, and knots.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the 

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. Story by Adam Voiland.

Downloads

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January 29, 2026

JPEG (3.65 MB)

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March 18, 2026

JPEG (3.41 MB)

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June 20, 2026

JPEG (3.61 MB)

References & Resources

  • Birdlife International (2026)
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    . Accessed August 10, 2026.
  • Brockmann Consult (2025)
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    . Accessed August 10, 2026.
  • Brocx, M., via Researchgate (2016)
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    . Accessed August 10, 2026.
  • Broome Bird Observatory,
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    . Accessed August 10, 2026.
  • Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (2025, December 15)
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    . Accessed August 10, 2026.
  • Department of Environment and Conservation (2009)
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    . Accessed August 10, 2026.
  • Hickey, R. (2019)
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    . Journal of Coastal Conservation, 23, 599–606.
  • Marine Waters (2020, May 12)
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    . Accessed August 10, 2026.
  • NASA (2019, June 27)
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    . Accessed August 10, 2026.
  • NASA Earth Observatory (2016, February 15)
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    . Accessed August 10, 2026.
  • Nanson, R., et al. (2022)
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    .
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    ,     265, 107712.
  • Piersma, T., et al. (2016)
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    . AnnRoeBIM16, 96.

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