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7 unusual facts about Shark Bay


Brown whipray

The brown whipray is found off northern Australia from Shark Bay to the Clarence River, though it has not been reported from the southeastern extent of its range for some time.

Carcharhinus coatesi

Carcharhinus coatesi (commonly known as Whitecreek shark, Coates' shark, White Cheek shark, Whitecheek whaler, and widemouth blackspot shark) is shark found off northern Australia (from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Fraser Island in Queensland) and possibly also off New Guinea.

Pink whipray

Small to large gatherings of pink whiprays have been observed over sandy flats and coral reefs in Shark Bay, on the Great Barrier Reef, and in the Caroline Islands.

Underwoodisaurus milii

Their distribution in Western Australia is throughout the southwest, the goldfields, wheatbelt, and nullarbor regions to the east, and to Shark Bay in the north.

White-fronted Chat

It is endemic to Australia, being found across southern Australia (including Tasmania) from Shark Bay in Western Australia around to the Queensland/New South Wales border.

Zuytdorp

It has been speculated that survivors may have traded with or may have intermarried with the local aboriginal community between present-day Kalbarri and Shark Bay.

Their fate was unknown until the 20th century when the wreck site was discovered on a remote part of the Western Australian coast between Kalbarri and Shark Bay, approximately 40 km north of the Murchison River.


Carpobrotus virescens

Endemic to Western Australia, C. virescens occurs on coastal limestone cliffs and dunes from the western edge of the Great Australian Bight, west and north almost to Shark Bay.

Deepwater stingray

Records of the deepwater stingray come from a number of locations scattered widely in the Indo-Pacific: KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and Mozambique, the Gulf of Mannar, the northern Andaman Islands, the South China Sea, the Ryukyu Islands and the Kyushu-Palau Ridge, northwestern Australia from the Rowley Shoals to Shark Bay, northeastern Australia from Townsville to Wooli, New Caledonia, and Hawaii.

Rock Parrot

Rocky islands and coastal dune areas are the preferred habitats for this species, which is found from Robe, South Australia westwards across coastal South and Western Australia to Shark Bay.

Sabkha

Modern sabkhas are present in varying form along the coasts of North Africa, Baja California, and at Shark Bay in Australia.

Woylie

Stable populations have been established in places such as Venus Bay, St Peter Island, Wedge Island, Shark Bay, and Scotia Sanctuary.


see also

Tourist Drives in Western Australia

The route travels along Shark Bay Road and Monkey Mia Road, from North West Coastal Highway near the Overlander Roadhouse, via Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve and Denham, to Monkey Mia, which is famous for its wild but friendly bottlenose dolphins.