title: North West Cape
text: # North West Cape
  
  North West Cape is a peninsula in the north-west of Western Australia. Cape Range runs down the spine of the peninsula and Ningaloo Reef runs along the western edge. It is in the Gascoyne region and includes the town of Exmouth.
  
  ## History
  
  In 1618, Dutch East India Company captain Lenaert Jacobszoon and supercargo Willem Janszoon of the Mauritius landed in the area. Phillip Parker King later visited in 1818 and named it North West Cape as well as naming Exmouth Gulf after senior naval officer Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth. Later, pearl luggers visited the area from Broome. During World War II a military operation codenamed Operation Potshot was done in the area. The first oil flow in Australia was discovered there in 1953 at Rough Range, by exploration company WAPET.
  
  Exmouth Gulf Station takes up much of the eastern side of the peninsula backing onto Exmouth Gulf.
  
  