Understand
Shark Bay is centred on the towns of Monkey Mia and Debham and is made up of Francois Peron National Park, Dirk Hartog Island, Shell Beach, Shark Bay Marine Park, Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve. It was given World Heritage status in 1991.
Monkey Mia is pronounced Monkey-My-Ah, not Monkey Mee-Ah.
The Shark Bay World Heritage Discover Centre (http://www.sharkbayinterp...) is in Denham.
Flora and fauna
A large section of Shark Bay has been cleared of non-native wildlife and fenced off at the narrowest point to provide a conservation reserve for rare Australia wildlife. The project is called Project Eden. Many native animals have been releases including the woylie, mallee fowl, southern brown bandicoot and bilby.
The Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve is home to the stromatolites, a rare and ancient form of life.
Landscape
Shark Bay has some amazing landscapes. There are beautiful beaches, including Shell Beach, made entirely of shells. There are cliffs, bays and inlets.
History
The European history of the area goes back to when Dirk Hartog, the Dutch explorer landed at Shark Bay in 1616, over 150 years before Captain Cook made his first landing at Kurnell in 1770 leading to the establishment of the British colony at Sydney 18 years later. The Dutch didn't care for the area, as it contained none of the spices or other valuables they were looking to trade or acquire. Their further visits were largely the result of being blown off course on route to the Dutch East Indies modern day Indonesia.
Francois Peron National Park is named after a French naturalist who visited Shark Bay in 1801 and 1803. For many years it was a sheep station. The government bought it in 1990. The old homestead is now a museum.