Three Islands Group National Park



Although it is officially the Three Islands Group National Park, the area between forty-four and seventy-two kilometres north-northeast of Cooktown and around one thousand kilometres north-northwest of Brisbane covers eight islands subdivided into three groups and the Three Islands Reef. All of them are located within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's jurisdiction., and seem to have been in the Guugu Yimithirr saltwater people's territory.

  • Three Islands, around forty-four kilometres north-northeast of Cooktown and fifteen northeast of Cape Bedford, were named by James Cook on 10 August 1770. Members of the Endeavour’s crew had previously visited the islands while the ship was undergoing repairs at the Endeavour River. One of the islands seems to be the site of the beche-de-mer fishing station in the Low Isles northeast of Cape Bedford visited by the steamer Leichhardt on 31 October 1873, immediately after the settlement of Cooktown "for the purpose of shipping some twenty tons of béche-de-mer" although all islands within the National Park seem to have been exploited by the fishers.

  • Two Islands, about ten kilometres east-south-east of Cape Flattery and about fifty-four north-east of Cooktown. Grave sites on one of the islands, presumed to be of European origin, are thought to be linked to the beche-de-mer trade.

  • The three islands in the Rocky Islets subgroup are about seventeen kilometres north-east of Cape Flattery and seventy-two north-east of Cooktown.

All the islands are protected seabird nesting sites, with access to the Rocky Islets prohibited and camping on one of the Two Islands restricted to a maximum of ten people for up to fourteen days between 1 April and 31 August each year.

Sources:


Missing links:
Three Islands Reef
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
Cape Bedford
HMB Endeavour
Endeavour River
steamer Leichhardt
béche-de-mer
Cape Flattery
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