Botany Bay

Botany Bay, inlet of the Tasman Sea, eastern Australia, in New South Wales, near Sydney, between Cape Banks and Cape Solander. The bay is about 1.6 km (1 mi) wide at the mouth and about 8 km (5 mi) in diameter. It was charted in 1770 by the British explorer James Cook. It was named Botany Bay because of the great variety of new plant species found there by the naturalist on Cook's expedition, Sir Joseph Banks. The Botany Bay National Park, created in 1984, is situated at the entrance to the bay.