The Mary River (Kabi Kabi: Moocooboola) is a major river system located in the South East and Wide Bay–Burnett regions of Queensland, Australia. Etymology The river was traditionally named Moocooboola by the indigenous Australian Kabi people. The river was named Wide Bay River on 10 May 1842 by early European explorers, Andrew Petrie and Henry Stuart Russell. The official name was changed on 8 September 1847 (prior to Queensland becoming a separate colony) by Charles Augustus FitzRoy, then Governor of New South Wales, to Mary River — after his wife Lady Mary Lennox (15 August 1790 to 7 December 1847). History The Mary River was used for rafting timber during the early years of European land settlement, and the discovery of gold at Gympie in 1867 brought an inflow of miners and pastoralists. Alluvial flats along the Mary River and some of its tributaries were used for cropping, and there was small-time dairying in the 1880s. Course and features The river rises at Booroobin in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, west of Landsborough. From its source, the Mary River flows north through the towns of Kenilworth, Gympie, Tiaro and Maryborough before emptying into the Great Sandy Strait, a passage of water between the mainland and Fraser Island, near the town of River Heads, south of the town of Hervey Bay. The Mary River flows into the Great Sandy Strait, near wetlands of international significance recognised by the International agreement of the Ramsar Convention and the UNESCO Fraser Island World Heritage Area, which attracts thousands of visitors every year. Notable river crossings include the Dickabram Bridge, the Granville Bridge at Maryborough, and the Lamington Bridge. From source to mouth, the Mary River is joined by nineteen tributaries, including the Tinana Creek, Munna Creek, Obi Obi Creek, Yabba Creek, Wide Bay Creek, Six Mile Creek, Deep Creek, and the Susan River. The river descends over its course. The river's catchment area is and is bounded by the Conondale, Jimna and Burnett Ranges. While there are only two impoundments on the Mary River itself (the Gympie weir, and the barrage at Mungar, south of Tinana) there are a number of dams within the Mary River catchment on tributaries, Borumba Dam on Yabba Creek west of Imbil, Baroon Pocket Dam on Obi Obi Creek west of Montville, Six Mile Creek Dam on Six Mile Creek east of Cooroy, Cedar Pocket Dam on Deep Creek at