The Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands is situated in the south-west corner of the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea. The northern boundary ...

, off the coast of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, Australia.

History

They were named in 1802 by

Matthew Flinders Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...

in honour of

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

, 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 sea explorer, seafarer and exploration, explorer, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first European to reach New ...

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

Description

The group includes Vanderlin Island,

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

West Island The West Island (, ) is the unofficial name given to the city, towns and boroughs at the western end of the Island of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada. It is generally considered to consist of the Lakeshore municipalities of Lachine (specific ...

, 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 The Yanyuwa people, also spelt Yanuwa, Yanyula and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory who live in the coastal region inclusive of and opposite to the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands in the southern ...

, 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 The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and ...

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 BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because of its importance as a breeding site for thousands of

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae, subfamily Sterninae, that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated in eleven genera in a subgroup of the family Laridae, which also ...

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