Shark Bay

SHARK BAY is an amazing natural wonderland on the westernmost point of the Australian continent. The bay itself covers a massive area, dotted with countless islands and peninsulas, and teeming with hundreds of species of birds, reptiles, and different fish, including many rays and, yes, sharks. The most massive shark in the world, the whale shark, gathers in SHARK BAY during April and May full moons. The bay is also home to 10,000 dugongs, or "sea cows," a cousin of the manatee. Endangered species of green and loggerhead sea turtles nest on the bay's sandy beaches. Humpback and southern right whales use the bay as a migratory staging area, and bottlenose dolphins forage for food, attracted by the world's most abundant meadows of seagrass on the bay's sandy floor. Due to the hot Australian climate and rapid evaporation, the water of the bay is nearly twice as salty as the surrounding ocean. Further south, some of the world's oldest living algae formations, called stromatolites, have be