Monkey Mia - Shark Bay
The many bays, inlets and islands in the Shark Bay region support a profusion of aquatic life. Turtles, whales, prawns, scallops, sea snakes, fish and sharks are common. Communities of corals, sponges and other invertebrates, together with a unique mix of tropical and temperate fish species, have also formed in some areas. The wide intertidal flats on the shores of Shark Bay support a unique community of burrowing molluscs, hermit crabs and other invertebrates. But the very foundation of Shark Bay’s ecosystem is the seagrass - meadows and meadows of it!
Shark Bay has the largest area of seagrass and the largest number of species ever recorded in one place in the world. Elsewhere, one or two species cover large geographic areas. For example, there is only one species of seagrass in most of North America and Europe. But in Shark Bay there are 12 species, and, in some places in the Bay, nine can easily be identified in a square metre.
The marine park and the scientifically-important seagrass banks form an important part of the Shark Bay World Heritage Area. The marine embayments of Shark Bay Marine Park offer many shallow, but highly recommended, diving and snorkelling sites. The most renowned sites are at Monkey Rock and the wreck of the Gudrun, rated by the Western Australian Maritime Museum as one of the State’s best wreck dives. Fish species in the area include estuary cod, many species of brightly-coloured wrasse such as cleaner fish and green moon wrasse, scissortail sergeant, lined butterflyfish, varieties of surgeonfish and brightly-coloured angelfish.
Dugongs and marine turtles are frequently seen in the bay. In Australian waters, herbivorous green turtles are more numerous than other marine turtles, which are carnivores. Individual turtles are common in Shark Bay all year round and congregations of turtles can be seen from the end of July, although the start of the breeding season is usually later. Traditionally, turtles and dugongs formed an important part of the diet of Aboriginal people but in Shark Bay these animals are not subject to as much hunting pressure as in other parts of the world.
The waters of Monkey Mia, where several bottlenose dolphins regularly visit the beach, are also within the marine park. The dolphins are wild animals that come to the beach of their own free will to interact with people and accept fish from them.
Best Season - The best time to visit the Bay is between June and October, when winds are generally lightest and the temperature is in the mid-20s (?C). Temperatures can be extremely hot in the summer months.
Where is it? - Denham, on the shores of the Shark Bay Marine Park, is 400 kilometres north from Geraldton and 330 kilometres from Carnarvon. Monkey Mia Reserve is 23 kilometres from Denham.