Shark Bay

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Introducing Shark Bay

World Heritage-listed Shark Bay incorporates two stunning peninsulas running parallel to the mainland and surrounded by a rich marine park. It’s an outstanding example of an ongoing geological process (the shaping of its seabed by seagrass); a unique natural phenomenon (its hypersaline marine waters); an outstanding example of a major stage in earth’s evolutionary history (the stromatolites of Hamelin Pool); and it has important habitats where threatened animal species survive. What makes a visit to Shark Bay so satisfying is that you can experience all of these extraordinary features.

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Originally inhabited by the Malgana, Nhanda and Inggarda peoples, who depended on both the sea and bush for their subsistence, there are now opportunities for visitors to take indigenous cultural tours to learn about the land from their perspective. The local people were probably the first indigenous Australians to encounter Europeans – Shark Bay was the site of the first recorded landing by a European on Australian soil, when, in 1616, Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog anchored at the island that now bears his name, just off Denham, Shark Bay’s main town.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009

Thorn Tree forum discussion

Recent posts

  1. Vaclav avatar
    RE: Snorkeling in Sharm el Sheikh

    by Vaclav 23 August 2011

    Hi. No matter how terrifying may Sharm look above the water, the sealife is still very good there. We have had good snorkelling at Shark's…
  2. popcornie3 avatar
    Re: Malaysia islands: which one should we choose?

    by popcornie3 02 August 2011

    We stayed at Bubbles Dive Centre in Pulau Perhentian Besar, which is located at the southern tip of the island. It's a lovely place to…
  3. Lilau avatar
    RE: Road Trip WA

    by Lilau 22 May 2011

    Kalbarri NP is worth a visit too. The Z BendGgorge is beautiful and there are nice look out points around, like God's Window. And I really…

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