Heron Island

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Heron Island and fringing reef, with Wistari Reef in foreground

Heron Island from helicopter

Heron Island (23°26'S, 151°51'E) is a coral cay located near the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern Great Barrier Reef, 72 km north-east of Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, and 539 km north of the state capital Brisbane. The island is situated on the leeward (western) side of Heron Reef, a fringing platform reef of significant biodiversity, supporting around 900 of the 1500 fish species and 72% of the coral species found on the Great Barrier Reef ^[1].

Harbour and Research Station from helicopter

Harbour and jetty, loading passengers onto launch

The island is about 800 metres long and 300 metres at its widest, giving an area of approximately 16 hectares.

Heron Island Resort, operated by Voyages Hotels and Resorts, is located in the north-west corner of the island. The resort is a popular getaway for scuba diving and snorkelling and accommodates up to 200 guests and 100 staff.

The University of Queensland Heron Island Research Station is situated in the island’s south-west quarter. Established in the 1950’s, the facility is one of the world's principal coral reef research stations, with a wide variety of research undertaken on coral reef ecology. Heron Island Research Station had a large fire on Friday March 30, 2007 at 4AM. "A number of buildings, including the station's research laboratories and part of the staff accommodation, were destroyed in the blaze, which fire investigators said was caused when an oxygen tank exploded." (UQ News Australia) At the time of the news release, all classes and research has been relocated or cancelled. [1]

The eastern half of the island is protected and forms part of the Capricornia Cays National Park, with a permanent ranger’s station onsite.

There is a small man-made channel and wooden jetty on the western shore of the island, where the daily catamaran launch from Gladstone docks and supplies to the island are delivered. The rusted wreck of the HMCS Protector lies at the entrance to the channel, and was towed to there in 1945 to form a dive and snorkelling site.

The island has no fresh water supply. A small desalination plant on the island uses reverse osmosis technology to supply water for human consumption. Similarly, two diesel generators (and some solar panels) supply electricity to the island.

Noddies nesting in a tree

The Eastern Reef Egret, which preys on Noddy fledglings

Rich forests of Pisonia grandis vegetation dominate the centre of Heron Island, while the island fringe supports less dense vegetation such as the coastal she-oak, octopus bush (Argusia argentea) and pandanus.

The island’s forest and surrounding dunes provide habitat for thousands of nesting seabirds, including the Wedge-tailed Shearwater and White-capped Noddy terns, during the breeding season between October and April. Over 70,000 White-capped Noddies nest on the island during this period. Buff-banded Rails, Eastern Reef Egrets and Silvereyes are found on the island throughout the year. Heron Island is also a major Green and Loggerhead turtle nesting site.