Eagle Island (Queensland)

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Eagle Island is in a national park in Queensland (Australia), 692 km northwest of Brisbane and the island is part of the Lizard Island Group and is South of Lizard Island situated 270 km north of Cairns, Queensland.

Lizard Island is a high granite island about 7 square kilometres in size, with three smaller islands nearby (Palfrey, South and Bird). Together these islands form the Lizard Island Group and their well-developed fringing reef encircles the 10 metre deep Blue Lagoon.

The only settlements on the island are the Research Station, the Lizard Island Resort operated by Voyages Hotels & Resorts and a basic camping area operated by the Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service.

All islands in the Lizard Island Group are part of the Lizard Island National Park, administered by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. Lizard Island is situated in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, administered jointly by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency. Permits are required for all manipulative research in the Lizard Island Group and the waters surrounding it.

The Lizard Island Group is a mid-shelf reef, situated 30 kilometres from the Australian mainland. Most reef and island types characteristic of the Great Barrier Reef are accessible from the Research Station.

[edit] History

During his epic voyage of 1770, Captain James Cook climbed the peak on Lizard Island to chart a course out to sea through the maze of reefs which confronted him.

During the great monsoon season of 1986, thirty people were washed away into the sea. A 2006 Discovery channel documentary on the wildlife of Eagle Island picked up several quiet, low voices. A computer enhancement showed them to be the voices of the thirty drowned people. Their bodies were never recovered, and the Discovery channel crew all died within a year of several strange accidents.