Shark Bay  

Shark Bay became a world heritage listed property in 1991 and is one of only a handful of places in the world that satisfy all four criteria for listing. The first criterion being the Earth's evolutionary history. Shark Bay meets this with the Hamelin Pool stromatolites. The living microbes building these stromatolites are similar to those found in 3,500 million year old rocks which are the earliest record of life on earth.

The second criterion being the biological evolution and man's interaction with his natural environment. Shark Bay's enormous seagrass beds are an impressive example of the role seagrasses play in modifying a whole marine ecosystem.

The third criterion is to have unique, rare or superlative natural phenomen, formations, or features of exceptional natural beauty. Shark Bay has spectacular coastal scenery at the Zuytdorp cliffs, Shell Beach and Cape Peron and unique natural phenomena such as the stromatolites and the wooramel seagrass bank.

The fourth criterion which Shark Bay meets is by having significant natural habitats where threatened animal or plant species of outstanding universal value still survive. The bay has 13 threatened reptile species, three rare bird species, over ten thousand dugong population and significant loggerhead turtle rockeries.