| Native name: Pabaju | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Archipelago | Torres Strait Islands |
| Length | 6 km (3.7 mi) |
| Country | |
Albany Island or Pabaju is an island at the very tip of Cape York Peninsula in the Adolphus Channel and part of the Manar Group of islands Queensland, Australia, in the Cape York Peninsula about 20 km (12 mi) East of Bamaga, and 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of the tip of Cape York.
The island is a part of the Torres Strait Islands; it is about 6 km (3.7 mi) long and is volcanic with fringing coral reefs.[1] It is said to have been certainly part of the territory of the Djagaraga or Gudang people.[2]
The island was surveyed very early in the region's history[3] and part of the island was named Port Albany [4]
A bêche-de-mer station was established on the island in 1862 by C. Edwards and J. Frazer.[5] After an inspection by Queensland's Governor Bowen, a settlement was planned for the island but it was built instead on the adjacent mainland in 1863 at Somerset, Queensland. There was still a trochus shell farm there in 1995,[6] and there is now an operational pearl farm.[7]
The wreck of the "RMS Quetta", a passenger ship that sank in 1890, lies just off Albany Island. The ship hit an uncharted rock and sank in a very short time killing 134 people.[8]