Mourilyan Harbour is a coastal

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

and harbour within the

Cassowary Coast Region The Cassowary Coast Region is a local government area in the Far North Queensland region of Queensland, Australia, south of Cairns and centred on the towns of Innisfail, Cardwell and Tully. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. In the , Mourilyan Harbour had a population of 156 people.

Geography

The locality of Mourilyan Harbour is a coastal area bounded by the Coral Sea on the east and the Moresby River and one of its tributary creeks to the south. Apart from the port facility on the Moresby River, most of the locality is farmland or undeveloped land. The Mourilyan Harbour Road runs roughly east–west through the locality linking the port to the town of Mourilyan.

History

In 1872,

John Moresby Rear Admiral John Moresby (15 March 1830 – 12 July 1922) was a British naval officer who explored the coast of New Guinea and was the first European to discover the site of Port Moresby. Life and career Moresby was born in Allerford, Somerset ...

, a naval captain as well as hydrographer and explorer, charted Mourilyan Harbour on a coastal patrol in . He named it after one of his officers, Lieutenant T. L. Mourilyan. In the 2011 census, the population of Mourilyan Harbour was not separately reported but was included in the population for neighbouring

New Harbourline New Harbourline is a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivisi ...

with a combined population of 317 people.

Port facility

The port is used for the export of sugar and molasses from Innisfail,

Babinda Babinda is a rural town and locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Babinda had a population of 1,253 people. Geography Babinda is located south of Cairns. The town is noted for its proximity to Queensl ...

, Tully and the Atherton Tableland. Woodchips and logs are also exported through the port.

Recreation

Mourilyan Harbour is known for its recreational fishing with many creeks and channels, lined with

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

. Fish caught there include

barramundi The barramundi (''Lates calcarifer'') or Asian sea bass, is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Perciformes. The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, spanning the waters of the Middle East, Sout ...

mangrove jack The mangrove red snapper (''Lutjanus argentimaculatus''), also known as mangrove jack, grey snapper, creek red bream, Stuart evader, dog bream, purple sea perch, red bream, red perch, red reef bream, river roman, or rock barramundi, is a species ...

giant trevally The giant trevally (''Caranx ignobilis''), also known as the lowly trevally, barrier trevally, ronin jack, giant kingfish or ''ulua'', is a species of large marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The giant trevally is distributed ...

and

queenfish The queenfish (''Seriphus politus'') is a species of fish in the family Sciaenidae, the drums and croakers. It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean, where it occurs along the North American coastline from Oregon to Baja California; it has been ...

. However, caution must be taken during windy weather as the water can become very choppy.

References

External links