Lady Musgrave Island is a coral cay on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, with a surrounding reef. The island is the second southernmost island in the Great Barrier Reef chain of islands, the first (southernmost) being Lady Elliot Island. The Island is named after Lady Lucinda Musgrave, the wife of Sir Anthony Musgrave, a colonial governor of Queensland.
Lady Musgrave Island, and the immediate surrounds, is a national park and can be reached by excursion boat from Bundaberg (located approximately 4 hours north of Brisbane) and from the Town of 1770, Queensland (located approximately 5 hours north of Brisbane). The island is part of the Capricornia Cays Important Bird Area.
Lady Musgrave Island is referred to as Wallaginji by local Australian Aboriginal tribes. The name Wallaginji means 'beautiful reef'.
Geography This island is the only shingle cay situated on the leeward reef flat. The island also has beach rock that is exposed along the north eastern and eastern beaches and an outcrop of lithified coral conglomerate, similar to that forming the core of the cay, occurs near the south eastern corner.
Vegetation consists of Pisonia grandis, Tournefortia argentea, Casuarina equisetifolia, and Pandanus tectorius. The vegetation is less dense than that of the larger sand cays of the Capricorn Group.
A small pond of brackish water is located towards the southern end of the cay. The island is located on the southern end of a large lagoon. From a boating perspective, a good thing about Lady Musgrave reef is that one can enter the lagoon via a deep water channel. There has been some debate about whether the channel into the lagoon is a naturally occurring phenomenon, or was cut into the lagoon by Japanese or Taiwanese fishermen, or, as legend has it, it was widened by guano miners many years ago; it is recorded by 1938 and in 1966 surveys.Steers Detailed notes
More convincingly however, the channel is mentioned in William Collin's Life & Adventures of an Essexman: a Queensland pioneer and in a Brisbane newspaper reporting in December 1875 Collin's salvage of the Norseman. It may have been widened by Captain Collin after he had re-floated the Norseman from Lady Musgrave Island reef and repaired damage to its hull; apparently Collin's crew had the vessel 'on the hard' on the sand cay to make these repairs. He may have widened the narrow, naturally occurring 'gap' in the reef to get the repaired vessel out of the lagoon, under tow and without further mishap.
Tourism
Lady Musgrave Island is serviced by two operators offering day trips - Lady Musgrave Experience from Bundaberg and 1770Reef from the Town of 1770. In mid-2020, a pontoon will be launched by Lady Musgrave Experience for the use of day visitors and overnight guests.
Lady Musgrave Island is the most intensively used of the camping islands within the Capricorn Bunker group, due to its protected anchorage within a semi-enclosed lagoon and daily transfers.
It is recognised that the permitted numbers of visitors on Lady Musgrave Island at this time, have reached (and at times exceeded) an ecologically sustainable level.Capricornia Cays National Park and Capricornia Cays National Park (Scientific) Management Plan, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS)
A lease for navigation purposes exists on Lady Musgrave Island with a lighthouse was constructed on Lady Musgrave Island in April 1974. The light is controlled and maintained by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority with inspections of the light are undertaken by helicopter, and an area of the lease is set aside for landing purposes. The facility is maintained using an amphibious vehicle launched from a maintenance vessel.
Much of this area comes under the Capricornia Cays National Park with current usages including camping, permitted on four cays up to the following limits: North West Island 150 campers Lady Musgrave Island 40 campers Masthead Island 60 campers (30 from October to March) Tryon Island 30 campers. (Currently closed.)
The island has no fresh water supply, so visitors need to bring all fresh drinking water. A composting toilet is available on the island. The area also has many visits by both passing vessels cruising the Queensland coast and day trippers in fast jet catamarans (typically Lady Musgrave Island). The area is also of significances as a fishery particularly for king prawns.
History
Discovery In 1803 Captain Eber Bunker of the whaling ship Albion was the first European to discover the region. He gave his name to the southern group.
The southern cays and reefs were first charted between 1819 and 1821 by Lieutenant Phillip Parker King Royal Navy, initially in the and later in the Bathurst. The main charting exercise for all the islands and reefs was carried out in 1843 under the command of Captain Francis Price Blackwood in which was accompanied by the . The naturalist, Professor J. Beete Jukes, was on board the Fly and his published journal provides valuable information on some of the cays.
Guano mining in the 1890s The mining of guano (bird droppings) occurred on Lady Musgrave Island, Fairfax Islands and North West Island during the 1890s. This was an extension of a more substantial guano mining operation on Lady Elliot Island to the south where guano mining had started in the early 1860s. Some remains of these activities are still evident.
Lady Elliot Island was the first to be mined in 1863. They took about one metre off the island. The next to be mined was the next island in the chain, Lady Musgrave Island. Although they knew the name, the guano miners called the place Bunker number 1 – Fairfax Islands were known as Bunker number 2. Fairfax was more heavily mined before the miners moved onto North West Island.
An extract from the original miners helps paint the picture of the operations on Lady Musgrave "We had a good run across, and pitched camp a short distance above the crown of the beach, the cutter anchoring in the capacious lagoon. This has the important distinction of having a narrow deep-water entrance, enabling small vessels to enter or leave at any time of the tide. Being narrow it is somewhat difficult to locate. A permanent beacon at each end of the channel would be very useful" ....... On Lady Musgrave "The phosphate-guano deposits proved very meagre. Taking the whale boat we then sailed down to Fairfax Island (Bunker No.2), only: four or five miles distant. Fairfax Island was a difficult place to work, particularly as to the shipping; tide work was necessary and a launch was used for the long tow out to the anchorage. Operations on a minor scale were carried on at Lady Musgrave at the same time, a ketch being employed to lighter cargoes across to the sailing vessels loading at the other island. It was out of the question to use steamers in the trade, the rate of loading being much too low".Adventuring in coral seas Ellis, Albert F. (Albert Fuller), 1869–1951 Sydney Angus and Robertson, 1936
Tourist resort in the 1930s A concrete slab is the only remnant of a resort which operated at Lady Musgrave Island during the 1930s. The island had been a hub for a number of pleasure cruises when eventually more extensive construction of tourist facilities occurred in 1938 and 1939 at Lady Musgrave Island, including six cottages and other facilities.letter H. F. Baker, West Bundaberg to Sec., Qld. Forestry Sub-Dept., Brisbane, 29 October 1938 The caretakers were Mr & Mrs Bell and they "discourage the removal of marine growth in every way and to assist in this object specimens of the reef life are not even collected for display purposes at the settlement". At around this period the Sapphire (photo of the Sapphire) was being used to regularly take tourists from Bundaberg to Lady Musgrave Island. The vessel was owned and operated by Eric Keppel Hansen (he preferred to be called Keppel).Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Photo
Military target practice at Fairfax Islands, 1943 East and West Fairfax Islands were used as a bombing range by the Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Australian Navy from the 1940 through to the 1960s. It is likely that during World War II Lady Musgrave reef was also used for bombing practice "with the reef now practically a marine desert" as reported in 1952.Chief Inspector of Fisheries (E J Coulter) AR CIF Vol 1 part 2 1952 pp1009- 1012
TNT Alltrans grounding on 25 March 1985 At about 03:40 on 25 March 1985 the Australian registered ship TNT Alltrans grounded on Lady Musgrave Island, while on a voyage from Gladstone, Queensland to the port of Bluff, New Zealand.The Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Investigation Reports,1985.
The ship become hard fast on the reef in a position with the island's light bearing 075 degrees true distant about ; that the ship's engines continued to run ahead until about 04:00 hours when they were stopped.
The ship suffered extensive bottom damage in the incident. There was no loss of life or injury to persons and no pollution of the marine environment attributable to the incident. The ship was refloated with the aid of a tug on 26 March 1985 and anchored off the island until 29 March for divers' inspection of the damage and temporary repairs. The ship then proceeded under its own power at reduced speed to Newcastle, New South Wales for assessment of the damage and, subsequently, permanent repairs.
That the grounding was directly caused by the failure of the officer of the watch to control the navigation of the ship over an extended period.
The TNT Alltrans is a diesel engined bulk carrier of 35,218 tonnes deadweight, built in 1983. It carries alumina in bulk, The ship is fitted with cargo-handling equipment which enables it to discharge its own cargoes and has been employed continuously since commissioning in the carriage of alumina from Gladstone to Bluff, and from Bunbury, Western Australia to Bell Bay, Tasmania.
Ecology
Environmental aspects Pisonia (Pisonia grandis) trees are the primary vegetation,C.Michael Hogan. 2011. Coral Sea. Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. P.Saundry & C.J.Cleveland. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC with she-oaks and Pandanus tectorius trees forming most of the remaining percentage.
Camping is allowed for up to 40 people at a time, with some restrictions (e.g.: no open fires), and must be booked. Camping can be booked up to 11 months in advance and is recommended that you do so, especially during school holidays. The island is closed to all campers in the months of February and March to protect turtle hatchlings. More information can be found at https://web.archive.org/web/20061002052638/https://www.epa.qld.gov.au/parks/iaparks/gds/IAGDS030.do#Lady%20Musgrave%20Island%20campground. Camping permits can be obtained for a small fee online. Campers can bring their own dive compressors (can only be run from 9 am to 6 pm). Generators are NOT allowed.
The daily (subject to weather) tourist boat from 1770 can resupply campers with prearranged supplies.
As the island is well outside the light cone of coastal cities, the stargazing is spectacular, with nightly meteor showers not uncommon.
The extreme edges of the coral lagoon should generally be avoided during tidal inflow and outflow, as the pull can be quite strong. There is an old legend involving a legless man and a widow who died there. It is rumoured to be haunted by their ghosts.
Wildlife