During the Ice Age, the Gulf of Carpentaria had dried up, forming a land bridge between Australia and New Guinea. The bridge was called Sahul Land. About 36,000 years ago, a freshwater lake began to fill Sahul Land, and by 26,000 years ago it was one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world, teeming with aquatic life. Rising sea levels at the end of the Ice Age gradually drowned the lake with salt water, and it became the Gulf of Carpentaria
