The Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands is situated in the south-west corner of the Gulf of Carpentaria, off the coast of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

, Australia.

History

They were named in 1802 by Matthew Flinders in honour of

Sir Edward Pellew Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother I ...

, a fellow naval officer. Although Flinders was the first British explorer to pass that way, his journals describe indications of some "foreign" people having visited beforehand. Flinders speculated that these visitors were Chinese. The islands were also sighted in 1644 by

Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first known European explorer to reach New ...

who thought they were part of the mainland and called them "Cape Vanderlin".

Description

The group includes Vanderlin Island, North Island, West Island, Centre Island and South West Island. Combined, the islands have a total area of 2100 square kilometres; the largest, Vanderlin Island, is 32 km long and 13 km wide. Most islands are inhabited (some part-time) by the indigenous Yanyuwa people, and are also part of Wurralibi Aboriginal Land. Tourists may negotiate a fee to visit, camp, and fish there. North Island is home to the 5.41 km²

Barranyi (North Island) National Park Barranyi (North Island) National Park is in the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia, 737 km southeast of Darwin. See also * Protected areas of the Northern Territory The protected areas of the Northern Territory c ...

and offers free camping, with drinking water and barbecue facilities located near Paradise Bay The

Pearce, Urquhart and Hervey Islands Important Bird Area The Pearce, Urquhart and Hervey Islands Important Bird Area consists of three small adjacent islands, with a collective area of 9 ha, in the western Gulf of Carpentaria’s Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands, in the Northern Territory of Au ...

, so identified by BirdLife International because of its importance as a breeding site for thousands of

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...

s, comprises three small islands in the group and lies to the north-east of North Island. SirEdwardPellewGroup

References

Islands of the Northern Territory Gulf of Carpentaria {{NorthernTerritory-geo-stub