Snapper Island is an island at the mouth of the

Daintree River The Daintree River is a river that rises in the Daintree Rainforest near Cape Tribulation in Far North Queensland, Australia. The river is located about northwest of Cairns in the UNESCO World Heritagelisted Wet Tropics of Queensland. The area ...

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, some north of

Port Douglas Port Douglas is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia, approximately 60 km north of Cairns. In the , Port Douglas had a population of 3,504 people. The town's population can often double, however, with the in ...

. It is administered by the

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protects a large part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef from damaging activities. It is a vast multiple-use Marine Park which supports a wide range of uses, including commercial marine tourism, fishing, ports an ...

and the

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) is a business division of the Department of Environment and Science within the Government of Queensland. The division’s primary concern is with the management and maintenance of protected areas ...

as the Snapper Island National Park and Marine Park. Snapper Island is a popular tourism and sea kayaking destination. It is around 66 hectares or 0.66 square km in size.

Indigenous culture

The island is part of the traditional sea country of the

Kuku Yalanji The Kuku Yalanji, also known as Gugu-Yalanji, Kuku Yalandji or Kokojelandji, are an Aboriginal Australian people originating from the rainforest regions of Far North Queensland. Language The traditional language of the people is Guugu Yala ...

Aboriginal people. The Kuku Yalanji people hunt and fish around the island and traditionally manage the island's culture

Other history

In the early 1900s, Jerry Doyle operated a

lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone ( calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is : CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can take p ...

on the island, fired by wood from the Daintree, ferried over on a vessel called the "Nellie".

Beche-de-mer Sea cucumbers are marine animals of the class Holothuroidea. They can be used as food, in fresh or dried form, in various cuisines. In some cultural contexts the sea cucumber is thought to have medicinal value. The creature and the food product ...

(sea cucumbers) processing (boiling) may also have been undertaken here. There is evidence of remains of an early Chinese market garden on the island, the watercourse stonework of which is still visible today. This island was a stopover by

George Elphinstone Dalrymple George Augustus Frederick Elphinstone Dalrymple (6 May 1826 – 22 January 1876) was a colonist, explorer, public servant and politician, member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. He founded the towns of Bowen and Cardwell, and pioneer ...

before he discovered the Daintee River. (https://web.archive.org/web/20060429214616/http://www.daintreecoast.com/daintree.htm)

Flora and Fauna

The island is home to a variety of vegetation communities such as a small mangrove community, closed sclerophyll forest, closed vine forest and some coastal vegetation. It is inhabited by many sea creatures and birds including the pied imperial-pigeons who come here during the summer season.

References

* State of Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (2003)
Snapper Island National Park and Marine Park
Retrieved September 14, 2005. Islands on the Great Barrier Reef Islands of Far North Queensland National parks of Far North Queensland {{Queensland-geo-stub