Shark Bay, Western Australia. This World Heritage Area is of extraordinary global significance. Communities of corals, sponges and other invertebrates, together with a unique mix of tropical and temperate fish species.

Shark Bay is also home to five species of endangered mammals, as well as 35 percent of Australian bird species and abundant marine flora and fauna. Shark Bay is home to approximately 13% of the world population of dugong.

The area has a population of fewer than 1,000 people and a coastline of over 1,500 kilometers. In 1699, William Dampier gave the area the name Shark Bay.

Shark Bay also contains the largest number of seagrass species ever recorded in one place.

Bottle-nose dolphins abound in Shark Bay. At Monkey Mia , they come close to shore and interact with visitors who wade into knee-deep water.

Pearling, once important, has given way to fishing (prawns, crayfish, whiting, snapper).