Lizard Island

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Island in Queensland, Australia

title: "Lizard Island" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["articles-containing-video-clips", "islands-of-far-north-queensland", "lizard-island-(queensland)", "national-parks-of-far-north-queensland", "p&o", "protected-areas-established-in-1939", "1939-establishments-in-australia"] description: "Island in Queensland, Australia" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizard_Island" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Island in Queensland, Australia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox protected area"]

FieldValue
nameLizard Island National Park
photoLizard-Island-Australia-2018-Luka-Peternel.jpg
iucn_categoryII
coordinates
mapQueensland
map_width200px
reliefyes
labelLizard Island National Park
locationQueensland
established1939
area_km29.9
nearest_cityCooktown
governing_bodyQueensland Parks and Wildlife Service
website
::

| name = Lizard Island National Park | photo = Lizard-Island-Australia-2018-Luka-Peternel.jpg | photo_caption = | photo_alt = | iucn_category = II | iucn_ref = | coordinates = | map = Queensland | map_alt = | map_width = 200px | relief = yes | label = Lizard Island National Park | label_position = | location = Queensland | established = 1939 | area_ha = | area_km2 = 9.9 | area_ref = | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | visitation_ref = | nearest_city = Cooktown | nearest_town = | governing_body = Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service | website = Lizard Island, also known as Jiigurru or Dyiigurra, is an island on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, 1624 km northwest of Brisbane. It is part of the Lizard Island Group that also includes Palfrey Island, and also part of the Lizard Island National Park. Lizard Island is within the locality of Lizard in the Cook Shire. The traditional owners of the Lizard Island group are the Aboriginal Australian clan known as the Dingaal (or Dingiil) people.

History

Archaeological excavations and studies have shown that human occupation of the island dates to 6510–5790 cal BP, which shows that Jiigurru was the earliest offshore island occupied on the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef.

Lizard Island was known as Dyiigurra to the Dingaal people, an Aboriginal clan who have occupied the island for thousands of years. Today this is usually rendered Jiigurru, and the local people are sometimes referred to as Dingiil. David Horton's 1996 representation of Norman Tindale's map shows the lands of the Guugu Yimithirr people extending from south of Hope Vale to an area which covers Lizard Island. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority states on their website that the traditional lands of the "Guugu Yimidhirr Warra Nation" extend from Lizard Island to the Hope Vale region. The website "Dingaals Lizard Island" states that the island has been in the custodianship of the Dingaal people for thousands of years. According to the Cairns Institute and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, the Dingaal people are the traditional owners of the Lizard Island group. the senior elder of the Dingaals is Gordon Charlie. The island has along been regarded as a sacred place, used for ceremonies and trading.

Pottery found on the island has been dated at more than 1,800 years old, The 2024 study showed that the people who lived there were involved in the ancient maritime networks in the vicinity, including the possession of sophisticated skills in building ocean-going vessels as well as navigation. (See below).

The name Lizard Island was given to it by Captain Cook when he passed it on 12 August 1770. He commented, "The only land animals we saw here were lizards, and these seem'd to be pretty plenty, which occasioned my naming the Island Lizard Island." Cook climbed the peak on Lizard Island to chart a course out to sea through the maze of reefs which confronted him and the island's summit has since been called 'Cook's Look'.

By the 1840s, the island was being used by sea cucumber (trepang, or bêche-de-mer) fishermen who found that the waters contained substantial quantities of the creature which was a popular delicacy in Asia. Scottish naturalist John McGillivray visited the island in the Julia Percy in 1861, and wrote that there had been bêche-de-mer vessels operating there from Sydney, Singapore, and Hong Kong for 15 years prior. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Portrait_of_Mary_Beatrice_Watson.tif" caption="Portrait of Mary Beatrice Watson"] ::

In 1879, Captain Robert Watson with his wife Mary Watson, two servants and baby son, modified an abandoned cottage left on the island by the crew of the Julia Percy. The ruins are still visible. Captain Watson was a sea cucumber fisherman, and his wife Mary Watson was only 21 when she arrived at Lizard Island. and the State Library of Queensland holds two diaries by Mrs Watson. One is about her last nine months on Lizard Island, and the other comprises notes documenting her last days.

In retaliation for the attack, a punitive expedition was mounted against Aboriginal peoples, and many innocent Aboriginal people were massacred in retribution, a part which has often been left out of the story. This devastated Aboriginal communities and their traditional economies in the region, which had already been affected by expanding agriculture and the discovery of gold, leading to the establishment of Cooktown in 1873. In 1886 the first Aboriginal mission was established at Elim Aboriginal Mission by German Lutherans. The mission, along with Cape Bedford Mission, was the foundation of the present Hope Vale settlement, where many Dingaal people continue to reside.

In 1939, all of the islands in the group were declared a national park.

The Lizard Island Research Station was established by the Australian Museum in 1973, the waters surrounding the island were declared a marine park in 1974, and Lizard Island Resort opened in 1975.

In 2014, the resort was damaged by Cyclone Ita, and had to close for repairs.

Suzanne Rees, an 80-year old passenger of the cruise ship Coral Adventurer, was found dead on Lizard Island on 26 October 2025, after her ship left her behind on the island. She had left the Coral Adventurer for a hike to Cook's Look, but felt ill and was instructed to return to the ship alone.

Geology and geography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Lizard_island_beach.JPG" caption="Lizard Island beach"] ::

Lizard Island is located in the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef, 27 km directly off the mainland, north of Cooktown and Cape Flattery. It is a granite island about 10 km2 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 m deep Blue Lagoon. The highest point is Cook's Look, 370 m above sea level.

It is a continental island, once around 20 km inland and separated after the post-Pleistocene flooding, around 7000 years ago. It was created mostly by an orogenic pluton of porphyritic biotite and muscovite, formed during the Permian age around 300 million years ago.

There are many beaches on the island, including Mangrove Beach, Freshwater Beach (also known as One Tree Coconut Beach), Watson's Beach, and Casuarina Beach.

Archaeology

The oldest occupation layers on the island date to 6510–5790 cal BP, which shows that Jiigurru was the earliest offshore island occupied on the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef. There are numerous shell middens, stone arrangements, and art sites on the island, showing signs of occupation of the island for thousands of years. In the 1990s, two Aboriginal rock art sites were observed in rockshelters formed by large granite boulders, in which red ochre was used.

Site 17

Site 17 is an archaeological site located on a hill above Freshwater Beach (also known as One Tree Coconut Beach) of Lizard Island, which was found to contain granite-derived, quartz sand temper. The midden is quite large, covering a total area of 7000 m2. Site 17 was first observed by Jim Specht in 1978–9, then excavated by Robynne Mills in 1992. The site was further excavated by a team including Specht in 2009, who created a 100 cm X 50 cm x 150 cm trench, and identified six stratigraphic layers. It was observed through radiocarbon dating that the basal layer (6) produced a range of 3358–2929 cal BP on charcoal found at the 120–130 cm depth. In October 2009 Lentfer, Specht, and a representative of the Dingaal people, Johnathan Charlie, began excavating a new trench 2 m east of Mills trench. This new trench was 60 cm x 40 cm x 140 cm, and showed six layers of stratigraphy similar to Mills trench. There were recovered pieces of quartz, granite, and pumice discovered from the basal levels of layer number 6, which using radiocarbon dating were dated to be from 3815 to 3571 cal BP to 3206–2959 cal BP.

Mangrove Beach

In 2006, New Zealand archaeologist Matthew Felgate found pottery in an intertidal zone by chance when he was on holiday on the island, on Mangrove Beach. This was the first pottery found, and was reported in a 2010 study by Felgate; however, it could not be reliably dated at that time. Later, Sean Ulm, distinguished professor at James Cook University, and Ian J. McNiven, professor at Monash University, both of whom were operating under the auspices of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), co-led a team including Kenneth McLean, chair of Walmbaar Aboriginal Corporation, and other members of the Dingaal and Ngurrumungu communities, that excavated several more pieces of pottery from the site in 2009, 2010, and 2012. Initial analysis showed local materials were used in the manufacture. However, the age of the pottery could not be established.

The Ulm team revisited Jiigurru and excavated a shell midden not far from the pottery site, discovering that the site had been settled at least 4,000 years previously, but no pottery was found. The same team started working with the Indigenous owners and excavated a different midden and found a lot of pottery. Digging deeper, cultural material was found nearly 2 m metres below ground level, which was radiocarbon-dated to around 6,500 years ago; the earliest evidence of use of an island on the northern Great Barrier Reef. Co-author Quan Hua of ANSTO is an expert in radiocarbon dating. There is conclusive evidence that the pottery is not of Lapita origin, and it is also proof of continuous seasonal occupation of the island by Aboriginal people. It is not known by newer sherds were not found on that site, and further research is necessary. There has been a paucity of research done on the eastern side of Cape York Peninsula.

Governance

Lizard Island is within the locality of Lizard in the Cook Shire.

Lizard Island National Park is administered by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (Parks and Forests).

The island is also part 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.

Heritage listings

Lizard Island has a number of heritage-listed sites, including Mrs Watson's Cottage.

Flora and fauna

Plant species

As the sea level rose in the early Holocene, resulting in the isolation of Lizard Island, mangrove forest gradually became established in place of the near-coastal palms and grasses. There are a number of distinct plant communities, mainly Themeda australis and Arundinella nepalensis (a low grass), and some small patches of rainforest and semi-deciduous notophyll (dry rainforest). There is a some woodland consisting of mainly Acacia crassicarpa and some Eucalyptus tessellaris, along with shrubs such as Thryptomene oligandra and swamplands of pandanus. Along the coastal dune there is strand vegetation.

Animals

The waters around the island contain a number of coral reefs. Climate change is causing the reefs to suffer coral bleaching, in the summer of early 2024 over 97% of some reefs around the island died.

Reptiles

there were 11 species of lizards on the island. The most commonly found lizard is the yellow-spotted monitor (Varanus panoptes). Skinks and geckos are among some of the other reptiles roaming Lizard Island. The lowlands bar-lipped skink (Eremiascincus pardalis) and the sandy rainbow-skink (Carlia dogare) are endemic species of Queensland found on this island. The Chevert gecko (Nactus cheverti) is the only gecko on the island that's only endemic to Queensland. Pythons and tree snakes are common while the most dangerous snake on the island, the brown-headed snake (Furina tristis), is rarely seen. Green marine turtles (Chelonia mydas) and loggerhead marine turtles (Caretta caretta) can be seen nesting on the island in the summer and are often spotted in the shallow water.

Birds

There are over 40 species of birds that reside on or visit Lizard Island. Only about 20 species nest on the island, including terns. The island is home to many land and sea birds including the bar-shouldered dove (Geopelia humeralis), pheasant coucal (Centropus phasianinus), yellow-bellied sunbird (Nectarinia jugularis), white-bellied sea-eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster), and osprey (Pandion cristatus). Seasonal birds such as white-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) and dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis) also appear on the island.

Mammals

Lizard Island is home to a few bat species, but the most common is the Black flying-foxes (Pteropus alecto). They typically roam around the island and congregate in the mangroves. Black flying-foxes will fly to the mainland when flowering is poor. Eastern Dusky Leaf-nosed Bat (Hipposideros ater) have also been spotted on the island.

Until 2009, Lizard Island had no native rodents recorded. In October 2009, water rats (Hydromys chrysogaster) were spotted on the island and steadily increased in population until 2012. In 2010, Cape York mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys capensis) were spotted in South Island, marked as the first native rodent to the island chain.

Current settlement and use

Aside from the national park, Lizard Island also contains a number of other facilities:

Lizard Island Research Station

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Spawning_Pocillopora_meandrina_-_pone.0050847.s002.ogv" caption="Research performed at Lizard Island Research Station includes investigations into the reproduction of the cauliflower coral, ''[[Pocillopora meandrina]]''."] ::

Situated on Lizard Island's most westerly point,

, Anne Hoggett and Lyle Vail were co-directors of LIRS.

As a result of research conducted at the station, about 1,000 scientific publications had been produced by Australian and international researchers .

Lizard Island Resort

On the island's north western side is an ultra luxury resort owned by Hong Kong listed property company Sea Holdings. In December 1997, the island was purchased by P&O, before being sold to Voyages Hotels & Resorts in July 2004. It was later operated by Delaware North.

References

References

  1. Amaama, Safua Akeli. (2024-09-23). "Connections across the Coral Sea: a story of movement (Queensland Museum, Australia)". Tuhinga.
  2. {{Cite QPN. 51275. Lizard Island National Parl. national park in Shire of Cook
  3. {{Cite QPN. 19800. Lizard Island. island in the Shire of Cook
  4. "History".
  5. Horton, David R.. (1996). "Map of Indigenous Australia".
  6. "Reef Traditional Owners".
  7. "Home".
  8. (1 September 2017). "An Update on the Lizard Island Archaeological Project: Investigating Dingaal Seascapes on the Great Barrier Reef, Far North Queensland".
  9. (22 January 2024). "Lizard Island: Nature, culture and history".
  10. (16 April 2015). "Information Paper: An Experimental Ecosystem Account for the Great Barrier Reef Region, 2015". [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]].
  11. Hinchliffe, Joe. (10 April 2024). "Great Barrier Reef discovery overturns belief Aboriginal Australians did not make pottery, archaeologists say".
  12. {{gutenberg
  13. (19 October 2009). "Nature, culture and history {{!}} Lizard Island National Park". Queensland Government.
  14. (2013-09-01). "What's in a Name? Beyond The Mary Watson Stories to a Historical Archaeology of Lizard Island". International Journal of Historical Archaeology.
  15. (April 2024}} The boiling tank can be seen in the [[Queensland Museum]],{{cite news). "MARY WATSON". [[Smith's Weekly]].
  16. "Mary Watson Diaries, 1 Jan 1881 – 10 Oct 1881".
  17. (2021-02-24). "Mary Watson Diaries, January - October 1881: treasure collection of the John Oxley Library".
  18. Robertson, Jillian. (1981) ''Lizard Island: A Reconstruction of the Life of Mrs Watson''. Hutchinson of Australia, Richmond, Victoria. {{ISBN. 0-09-137140-6
  19. (1 November 2025). "A luxury cruise ship stopped at a remote Australian island. Suzanne Rees was left behind and died alone". [[The Guardian]].
  20. "Welcome to Lizard Island".
  21. (19 January 2024). "Lizard Island National Park".
  22. "Figure 4. View to the west over Mangrove Bay and Freshwater Beach,...".
  23. "species: Derris trifoliata in Lizard Island Field Guide (Lizard Island Field Guide)". [[Australian Museum]].
  24. (2013-02-12). "Human history and palaeoenvironmental change at Site 17, Freshwater Beach, Lizard Island, northeast Queensland, Australia". Queensland Archaeological Research.
  25. Bowler, Jacinta. (11 April 2024). "Oldest Aboriginal pottery discovered in Far North Queensland, say researchers".
  26. (11 April 2024). "Discovery of Australia's oldest pottery rewrites understanding of Aboriginal marine history".
  27. (10 April 2024). "Aboriginal people made pottery and sailed to distant offshore islands thousands of years before Europeans arrived".
  28. {{cite QPN. 19800. Lizard Island. island in the Shire of Cook
  29. {{cite QHR. 15205. Stone ruin at Lizard Island. 600430
  30. Graham Readfearn. (25 June 2024). "'Most of it was dead': scientists discover one of Great Barrier Reef's worst coral bleaching events".
  31. (5 August 2025). "World's biggest coral survey confirms sharp decline in Great Barrier Reef after heatwave".
  32. (2009-10-19). "Nature, culture and history {{!}} Lizard Island National Park".
  33. "About Lizard Island". [[Queensland Government]].
  34. "Wildlife of Lizard Island National Park".
  35. "Bats and Rats". [[Australian Museum]].
  36. "Water rat (species: Hydromys chrysogaster) in Lizard Island Field Guide (Lizard Island Field Guide)".
  37. (18 October 2024). "Australian Museum Lizard Island Research Station".
  38. "Lizard Island Research Station Profile".
  39. [https://www.afr.com/property/lizard-bound-for-p-and-o-treasures-chest-19990224-k8kh9 Lizard bound for P&O treasures chest] ''[[Australian Financial Review]]'' 24 February 1999
  40. [https://www.afr.com/property/gpt-buys-p-and-o-resorts-for-225m-20040708-jlw6w GPT buys P&O resorts for $225m] ''Australian Financial Review'' 8 July 2004
  41. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250321030657/https://www.cntraveler.com/hotels/australia/great-barrier-reef/lizard-island-great-barrier-reef Lizard Island Resort] [[Condé Nast Traveler]]

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