Port Musgrave is a shallow, almost enclosed,
estuarine bay located on the western coast of the
Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupació ...
in
Far North Queensland, Australia.
Geography
Two major rivers, the
Wenlock and the
Ducie discharge into it. The bay itself and the area surrounding it is defined as the Port Musgrave Aggregation
DIWA nationally important wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...
. The surrounding area is rich in freshwater swamps, while the estuary itself has tidal flats and mangroves, including stands of the
Nipa Palm
''Nypa fruticans'', commonly known as the nipa palm (or simply nipa, from ms, nipah) or mangrove palm, is a species of palm native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm considered adapt ...
. It is an important breeding area for
saltwater crocodile
The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been list ...
s. The small
Aboriginal community of
Mapoon lies on the southern shore of the bay.
History
''
Uradhi'' (also known as ''Anggamudi'', ''Ankamuti'', ''Atampaya'', ''Bawtjathi'', and ''Lotiga)'' is an Australian Aboriginal language of the
Western Cape York Peninsula. The traditional language region includes north of
Mapoon and
Duyfken Point
Duyfken Point is a Point (geography), point in the Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality of Mission River, Queensland, Mission River, Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia ().
Geography
Duyfken Point is on the western coast of Cape York ...
and east of the coast strip to the north of Port Musgrave (Angkamuthi country) incorporating the mouth of the
Ducie River
The Ducie River is a river located on the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Formed by the confluence of the Palm Creek and South Palm Creek, the headwaters of the Ducie River drain the Richardson Range, part of the Great ...
, the lower reaches of the Dulhunty River and the upper reaches of the Skardon River in the north. Following the displacement of Indigenous people by British settlement, it was also spoken in the
Northern Peninsula Area Region
The Northern Peninsula Area Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering areas on the northwestern coast of Cape York Peninsula. It was created in March 2008 out of three Aboriginal Shires and two autonomous Isl ...
including the communities of
New Mapoon,
Injinoo
The Injinoo were an Indigenous Australian people of the Cape York Peninsula, and their name now applies to a tribal aggregation of remnants of various tribes of the Cape York Peninsula.
Country
The traditional lands of the Injinoo Community ext ...
and
Cowal Creek
Injinoo (formerly Cowal Creek) is a coastal town in the Northern Peninsula Area Region and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality split between Northern Peninsula Area Region and the Shire of Torres in Far North Queensland, Far North Que ...
.
The bay was discovered by
Europeans in 1887 by Hugh Milinan and Edward Cullen who named the bay in honour of
Sir Anthony Musgrave,
at the time, the
Governor of Queensland
The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...
.
See also
References
Musgrave
Estuaries of Queensland
Landforms of Far North Queensland
Bays of Queensland
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