Green Island is an island in Oyster Harbour located approximately 6.5 kilometres (4 mi) northeast of Albany

Albany, Western Australia

Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....

 in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

The island has a total area of 2 hectares (5 acre) and was designated as a Class 1A Nature Reserve in 1988.

The nearest point on the mainland is Bayonet Head

Bayonet Head, Western Australia

Bayonet Head is an outer north-eastern suburb of Albany, Western Australia, on the west bank of Oyster Harbour. Its Local Government Area is the City of Albany. Until the 1980s, it was known as Flinders Park.-Geography:...

 that is located approximately 750 metres (2,461 ft) North West of the island.

History

Green Island was named by George Vancouver

George Vancouver

Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...

 who also named Oyster Harbour when he visited the area in 1791. It is one of only 4 permaent Pelican breeding grounds in Western Australia. The others being Mandura Shark Bay and Rockingham. The breeding Pelicans can be seen from the Kalgan Queen Riverboat, as the Island itself is a reserve.

When the colony in Albany was first settled in 1826 Green Island was planted for vegetables and by 1830 supported a vegetable garden and a hut was erected on the island for the gardener to live in.

In 1827, a group of sealers took 5 Aborigine

Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...

s to Green Island to catch birds. The sealers rowed away, leaving the Aborigines behind, then returned the next day bringing water. The Aborigines attempted to take the boat and the sealers fired on them killing one Aboriginal man. The remaining Aborigines were removed to Michaelmas Island

Michaelmas Island

Michaelmas Island is an island located in King George Sound near Albany, Western Australia.The island is a nature reserve and managed by the Department of Environment and Conservation; its reserve number is 30049. The island is also registered as a national estate. The island is in area...

 and left there making "great lamentations".

In 1991, the government department Fisheries Western Australia granted a fish farm license to the company Ocean Foods who have leases North and North East of Green Island where blue mussel

Blue mussel

The blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, is a medium-sized edible marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae. In spite of its specific name edulis, it is not the sole edible Mytilus species.-Distribution:...

s are farmed".

Fauna

The island is noted as an important breeding ground for small numbers of the Australian Pelican

Australian Pelican

The Australian Pelican is a large water bird, widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant to New Zealand.-Taxonomy:...

. It was estimated in 1993 that 7 active nests were located on the island.