World Heritage

Shark Bay was recognised by UNESCO in 1991 as one of the most remarkable places on Earth. The Shark Bay World Heritage Area covers 2.2 million hectares on the coast of Western Australia.

To be listed, Shark Bay has satisfied natural World Heritage site criteria in the areas of:

• Major stages in the evolutionary history of the world;
• Geological and biological processes;
• Natural beauty; and
• Unique and significant natural species.

The Shark Bay region is home to five of Australia’s 26 endangered mammal species, as well as 35 percent of Australia’s bird species. The Shark Bay mouse is one of the more well known endangered species of the region.

The stromatolites found in Hamelin Pool are the most diverse and abundant examples of stromatolitic microbialites in the world. These are colonies of algae which form hard deposits in shallow waters and are similar to structures that were the dominant benthic ecosystems on Earth for 3,000 million years.

Shark Bay is particularly interesting in terms of biological and geomorphic processes due to the natural marine basin within the bay causing variations in water salinity. Over time, the marine basin near Hamelin Pool has formed a reverse estuary containing hypersaline waters. The hyper-salinity is aided by low movement of water through the area and high temperatures resulting in increased evaporation.

For more detail of the biological and geomorphic processes of the region, visit environment.gov.au.

As of May 2007, Shark Bay was one of 15 World Heritage locations that were included on the National Heritage list.