Mourilyan Harbour is a coastal locality and harbour within the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, 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 The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

on the east and the

Moresby River Moresby can refer to: Places * Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea * Moresby, Cumbria, England ** Low Moresby, a village in the parish of Moresby, Cumbria ** Moresby Parks, a larger village in the parish of Moresby, Cumbria * Moresby, Que ...

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 Mourilyan is a town and locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was established around the Mourilyan sugar mill which provided much of the employment in the area until it was destroyed by Cyclone Larry on 20 March 20 ...

History

In 1872, John Moresby, 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 with a combined population of 317 people.

Port facility

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

Atherton Tableland The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River. It was dammed to form an irrigation reservoir named Lake Tina ...

. 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. Fish caught there include barramundi, mangrove jacks,

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

References

External links