Lady Elliot Island

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Lady Elliot Island is the southernmost coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef. The island lies 85 kilometres north-east of Bundaberg and covers an area of approximately 40 hectares. The island is home to a small resort and airstrip, which is serviced daily from Bundaberg and Hervey Bay. Visitors to the resort can stay in a variety of accommodation, from suites to tent cabins. Activities on the island include reef walking, scuba diving, snorkelling and bird, turtle and whale watching.

[edit] Fauna

Lady Elliot Island is an important seabird and turtle rookery site. The cay is a haven for over fifty species of tropical seabirds and wading birds. Over 50,000 birds nest on Lady Elliot Island during summer breeding season.

Seabirds common to Lady Elliot Island include:

Boobies: Brown, Masked, Red-footed
Terns: Black-naped, Bridled, Crested, Roseate, Sooty
Black Noddy
Buff-banded rail
Red-tailed Tropicbird
Silver Gull
Wedge-tailed Shearwater

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most important sea turtle habitats in the world and green and loggerhead turtles come ashore between November and March to lay their eggs. About eight weeks later, young hatchlings leave their nests and head towards the ocean (January to April).

Lady Elliot Island is just north of Hervey Bay, a popular Humpback Whale breeding ground. Whales are common in the waters around the island in the winter and early spring from June to October.

[edit] History

The island was first sighted and named by Captain Thomas Stewart, sailing the 'Lady Elliot' (which was named after the wife of Hugh Elliot, the colonial governor of India) in 1816. The significant bird life on Lady Elliot had contributed to the island's rich guano deposits over hundreds of years. A mining lease for the extraction of guano on the cay was granted in 1863. As a result, the island was stripped of all its guano and most of its vegetation. A lighthouse was built in 1873, which continued to operate until it was automated in 1980. The island's airstrip was built in 1969. About this time, an active revegetation program began on the island. The Lady Elliot Island Resort was established in 1984.