Shark Bay
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Carnarvon
Denham
Monkey Mia
Kalbarri
The area contains a coastline that is more than 1,500 kilometers in length. The few small communities which are located in Shark Bay occupy less than 1% of the land area.
The Shark Bay region is an area of significant zoological importance, primarily due to the habitats on peninsulas and islands being isolated from disturbances that have occurred elsewhere.
Geographe Channel forms the entrance to the bay to the north of Bernier Island. The bay is bisected by Peron Peninsula and is sheltered from the Indian Ocean to the west by Bernier, Dorre and Dirk Hartog islands.
The stromatolites (living rocks) found in Shark Bay are at their most diverse and in the greatest great abundance at Hamelin Pool. Although stromatolites may look like rocks, they are in fact alive and are probably the oldest living organisms on earth.
In photosynthesis during the day, the stromatolites actually move around in slow motion, possibly as they seek to follow the sun.
Stromatolites were in ancient pre historic times responsible for creating an oxygen rich atmosphere in which more complex life forms evolved. These more complex forms of life were then responsible for the destruction of stromatolites in most parts if the world because they attacked and devoured the stromatolites, which had no defense mechanisms. The stromatolites that survive in Hamelin Pool and in a few other locations around the world, only do so because of the harsh ecosystems that surround them.
Nearby schools
Shark Bay Primary School
