The Wellesley Islands are a group of islands off the coast of north Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, in the Gulf of Carpentaria

Gulf of Carpentaria

The Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea...

. They were named by Matthew Flinders

Matthew Flinders

Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...

 in honour of Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley

Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley

Richard Colley Wesley, later Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, KG, PC, PC , styled Viscount Wellesley from birth until 1781, was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator....

. The largest island in the group is Mornington Island

Mornington Island

Mornington Island is the northern most of 22 islands that form the Wellesley Islands group. The island is located in the Gulf of Carpentaria at and is part of the Gulf Country region in the Australian state of Queensland. The Manowar and Rocky Islands Important Bird Area lies about 40 km to...

. Two small islands in the group form the Manowar and Rocky Islands Important Bird Area

Manowar and Rocky Islands Important Bird Area

The Manowar and Rocky Islands Important Bird Area comprise two small islands in the Wellesley Islands group, lying in the south-east of the Gulf of Carpentaria and part of the state of Queensland, Australia...

 because of their importance for breeding seabird

Seabird

Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...

s. The South Wellesley Islands

South Wellesley Islands

The South Wellesley Islands, located South of the Wellesley Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, are :* Bentinck Island, Queensland* Sweers Island* Fowler Island, Queensland* Albinia Island* Horseshoe Island, Queensland...

 and the Forsyth Islands are in the same area and all are the local government area of the Shire of Mornington.