Shark Bay, Western Australia*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Australia
Type	Natural
Criteria	vii, viii, ix, x
Reference	578
Region†	Asia-Pacific
Inscription History
Inscription	1991  (15th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

Shark Bay is a world heritage site and a locality in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. It is located at approximately 25°30′S 113°30′ECoordinates: 25°30′S 113°30′E, over 800 km north of Perth, on the westernmost point of Australia. It was named by William Dampier, one of the first Europeans to visit Australia in July 1699. Shark Bay lays claim to being the first place of European contact in all Australia with Dirk Hartog's landing in 1616 and thus the first place of 'discovery' in a formal and documented manner by the outside world. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1600, 348 KB) Description: Phytoplankton in Bloom. ... As of 2006, there are a total of 830 World Heritage Sites located in 138 State Parties. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Asia, Australia and the Pacific (Australasia). ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... The Gascoyne region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. ... Slogan or Nickname: Wildflower State or the Golden State Other Australian states and territories Capital Perth Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Ken Michael Premier Alan Carpenter (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 15  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2005-06)  - Product ($m)  $107,910 (4th)  - Product per capita  $53,134/person... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... Location of Perth within Australia This article is about the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia. ... William Dampier, pirate, navigator and explorer William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651 – died March 1715) was an English buccaneer, sea captain, author and scientific observer. ... Events January 26 - Treaty of Karlowitz signed March 30 - the tenth Sikh Master, Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa. ... Dirk Hartog (1580—1621) was a 17th century Dutch sea captain and explorer, whose expedition was the second European group to land on Australian soil. ...

The bay's western arm is called Denham Sound.

Shark Bay may refer to:

• the bay itself, along with its peninsulas and numerous islands
• the Shire of Shark Bay
• the Shark Bay World Heritage Site
• the Shark Bay Marine Park.

It may help the reader to understand the reality of such isolated and vast localities of Australia by comparing it to a country of an equivalent area in Europe such as Wales: Shark Bay is about the same size but has a population of fewer than 1,000 people and a coastline of over 1,500 kilometres. The half dozen small communities making up this population occupy less than 1% of the total area. Bay redirects here. ... A peninsula in Croatia A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered on three or more sides by water. ... The Shire of Shark Bay is a Local Government Area of Western Australia. ... Elabana Falls is in Lamington National Park, part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves World Heritage site in Queensland, Australia. ... Shark Bay Marine Park is located at Shark Bay, Western Australia, over 800 km north of Perth. ...

Shark Bay World Heritage Site

The bay itself covers an area of 10,000 km², with an average depth of 10 metres. It is divided by shallow banks and has many peninsulas and islands. The coastline is over 1,500 km long. It is located in the transition zone between three major climatic regions and between two major botanical provinces. Pinguicula grandiflora commonly known as a Butterwort Example of a cross section of a stem [1] Botany is the scientific study of plant life. ...

Dirk Hartog Island is of major historic significance due to early explorers landing upon it. Dirk Hartogs plate in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Dirk Hartog Island, an island off the coast of Western Australia, was discovered in October 1616 by the Dutch sea captain Dirk Hartog, who was blown off course while sailing from Cape Town to Batavia (Jakarta). ...

Shark Bay is an area of major zoological importance. It is home to about 10,000 dugongs (sea cows), and there are many dolphins, particularly at Monkey Mia. The area supports 26 threatened Australian mammal species, over 230 species of bird, and nearly 150 species of reptile. It is an important breeding and nursery ground for fishes, crustaceans, and coelenterates. There are 323 fish species, with many sharks and rays. Zoology (from Greek: ζῴον, zoion, animal; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ... Binomial name (Müller, 1776) Natural range of . ... This article is about the dolphin mammal. ... The threatened categories (IUCN Red List) Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants, fungi, insects, bugs, etc. ... Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of sweat glands, including those that produce milk, and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex... For other uses, see Species (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Bird (disambiguation). ... Reptilia redirects here. ... For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation). ... For the Dutch band, see Crustacean (band). ... Subphylum/Classes[1] Anthozoa — corals and sea anemones Medusozoa:[2] Cubozoa — sea wasps or box jellyfish Hydrozoa — hydroids, hydra-like animals Polypodiozoa Scyphozoa — jellyfish Staurozoa — stalked jellyfish unranked: Myxozoa - parasites Cnidaria[3] (IPA: [4]) is a phylum containing some 11,000 species of apparently simple animals found exclusively in aquatic... For other uses, see Shark (disambiguation). ... Radiation has a variety of different meanings. ...

Some Bottlenose Dolphins in Shark Bay exhibit the only known case of tool use in marine mammals: they protect their beak with a sponge while searching for food in the sandy sea bottom. Apparently, mothers teach their daughters how to do this. Binomial name Montagu, 1821 Bottlenose Dolphin range (in blue) The Bottlenose Dolphin is the most common and well-known dolphin. ... Classes Calcarea Hexactinellida Demospongiae The sponges or poriferans (from Latin porus pore and ferre to bear) are animals of the phylum Porifera. ...

Shark Bay has the largest known area of seagrass, with seagrass meadows covering over 4000 km² of the bay. It includes the 1030 km² Wooramel Seagrass Bank, the largest seagrass bank in the world. Shark Bay also contains the largest number of seagrass species ever recorded in one place; twelve species have been found, with up to nine occurring together in some places. Seagrass from the coast of Florida Sea grass (or sea-grass in British English) are flowering plants from four plant families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae, and Cymodoceaceae) that grow in the marine saline environment. ...

At Hamelin Pool in the south of the bay, living microbes are building stromatolites that are over 3000 years old. The Hamelin Pool contains the most diverse and abundant examples of stromatolite forms in the world. Modern stromatolites in Hamelin Pool, Western Australia. ... Pre-Cambrian stromatolites in the Siyeh Formation, Glacier National Park. ...

Map of Shark Bay area

Shark Bay was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1991. The site covers an area of 23,000 square kilometres. It includes many protected areas and conservation reserves, including Shark Bay Marine Park, Francois Peron National Park, Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve, Zuytdorp Nature Reserve and numerous protected islands. Denham and Useless Loop both fall within the boundary of the site but are specifically excluded from it. Shark Bay was the first to be classified on the Australian World Heritage list. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Elabana Falls is in Lamington National Park, part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves World Heritage site in Queensland, Australia. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Shark Bay Marine Park is located at Shark Bay, Western Australia, over 800 km north of Perth. ... Francois Peron is a national park in Western Australia (Australia), 726 km north of Perth. ... Modern stromatolites in Hamelin Pool, Western Australia. ...

A marine wonderland

Shark Bay is a large shallow inlet located at the westernmost point of Australia, some 650 kilometres north of the city of Perth. In 1969, Dutch explorer Francois Pelsaert branded this desert area "a bare and cursed country, devoid of green or grass". Later visitors recorded their impressions with such names as Hopeless Reach, Useless Inlet, and Disappointment Loop. Today though, over 120000 people flock to Shark Bay annually.

Pelsaert would have found his grass meadows if he had looked under the water, for Shark Bay contains the largest and most diverse seagrass meadow in the world, over 4000 square kilometres in all. The Wooramel Seagrass Bank alone stretches 130 kilometres along the eastern arm of Shark Bay.

External links

Official websites

• Shire of Shark Bay
• Shark Bay World Heritage Area
• The Shark Bay Herald

Additional information

• UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Shark Bay, Western Australia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

v • d • e World Heritage Sites in Australia

Australian fossil mammal sites at Naracoorte and Riversleigh · Blue Mountains · Fraser Island · Gondwana Rainforests of Australia · Great Barrier Reef · Heard Island and McDonald Islands · Kakadu National Park · Lord Howe Island Group · Macquarie Island · Purnululu National Park · Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens · Shark Bay · Sydney Opera House · Tasmanian Wilderness · Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park · Wet Tropics of Queensland · Willandra Lakes Region UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ... Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... Naracoorte Caves is a national park in South Australia (Australia). ... Boodjamulla National Park formerly referrd to as Lawn Hill National Park is in Queensland, (Australia), 1837 km northwest of Brisbane. ... A panoramic view of the Blue Mountains The Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, are situated approximately 100 kilometres west of Sydney. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... The Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves includes eight separate areas totaling 3,665 square km, clustered around the New South Wales - Queensland border. ... The Great Barrier Reef is the worlds largest coral reef system,[1][2] composed of roughly 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for 2,600 kilometres (1,616 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (132,974 sq mi). ... Kakadu National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km east of Darwin. ... For the island off Solomon Islands, see Ontong Java Atoll Lord Howe Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean 600 km (373 mi) east of the Australian mainland. ... Macquarie Island lies in the southwest corner of the Pacific Ocean, about half-way between Australia and Antarctica. ... Purnululu National Park is a World Heritage Site in Western Australia, 2054 km northeast of Perth. ... The Royal Exhibition Building from the main avenue of the Carlton Gardens The Royal Exhibition Building, viewed from the west The Royal Exhibition Building is located in Melbourne, Australia. ... The Royal Exhibition Building in the Carlton Gardens The Carlton Gardens is a World Heritage Site located on the northeastern edge of the Central Business District in the suburb of Carlton, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ... The Sydney Opera House is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ... The Tasmanian Wilderness is a World Heritage Area in Tasmania, Australia. ... Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is UNESCO World Heritage-listed in the Northern Territory of Australia. ... The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site is an umbrella name for a series of National Parks stretching for 450 km along the north east coast of Australia, from Townsville to Cooktown, bordering the Great Barrier Reef, itself another World Heritage site. ... The Willandra Lakes Region is a World Heritage Site that covers 2,400 square kilometres in south-western New South Wales. ...