Princess Charlotte Bay
Around 350 kilometres north-northwest of Cairns, Princess Charlotte Bay lies off Lamalama and Mutumui country between Cape Melville iand Claremont Point, forming the 'bump' towards the eastern base of Cape York Peninsula. Lieutenant Charles Jeffreys, the colonial brig Kangaroo's commander, named the bay after Princess Charlotte of Wales in 1815.
Marine fossils and beach ridges discovered well inland on the tidal flats and river estuaries suggest the outflow of the Normanby, Bizant, North Kennedy, Marrett, and Morehead Rivers is gradually silting up the bay's waters, which inundate the extensive wetlands and mangrove forests around the shoreline for several kilometres during spring tides. The adjacent wetlands are some of Australia's largest in Australia. Extensive seagrass beds on the bay's seafloor make the area an ideal environment for dugong.
The bay was the scene of Queensland's worst maritime disaster when the Mahina Cyclone destroyed the pearling fleet anchored there to collect supplies and unload their catch on 4 March 1899.
Missing Links:
Cape Melville
Claremont Point
Lieutenant Charles Jeffreys
Colonial brig Kangaroo
Normanby River
Bizant River
North Kennedy River
Marrett River
Morehead River
Mahina cyclone
