Shark Bay

23 – 28 September 2012

There were some lovely plants in flower along one section of the road as we approached Shark Bay - absolutely no idea what most of them were… but the country did seem to become less arid, although still just low shrubs with occasional Myall or Mulga then a few Eucalypts.

 

 

The World Heritage Discovery Centre in Denham is wonderful – we went back several times to look at the displays and watch the videos all about the history and environmental aspects of Shark Bay. One of the reasons it is so special is that it is at the latitude where tropical merges into temperate so there is a wide diversity of species found both in the sea and on the land.

Many of the streets etc have names of early explorers or ships, and this has stimulated our interest in the stories of exploration along this coast.

We did the tourist attractions - Ocean Park, where we had a guided tour of an ocean aquarium …. interesting information, but very commercial and rather depressing, with the fish and sharks etc being in captivity in rather green water.

A Lion fish

 

Seeing the dolphins at Monkey Mia was quite different – the dolphins are wild and there is a policy of minimal impact on them. eg only 5 particular dolphins are fed, (the rangers can identify them by the scars and notches out of their fins from shark attacks), they are only fed a maximum of three times each morning, and are only given a very small proportion of their required food. We didn’t feel that they were exploited….they are not trained to perform and no-one is allowed to touch them.

There were 320 people at the beach the morning we went for the 7.45 session! They were lined up two deep, for about 100m along the water’s edge…all carefully controlled by the ranger.

When they come in close, they lift one eye out of the water and have a good look at you!

 

At Little Lagoon we saw an emu walking in the sea…unusual!

We walked along the edge of the lagoon and its creek with mangroves.

And saw a little Military dragon

Shell Beach, down the southern end of the peninsula, is brilliant, blindingly white

 

 

the beach is just beautiful, made entirely of tiny cockle shells (coquina)

 

that are mined for shellgrit for chooks and cement, which is said to be sustainable as the shell deposits are replenished continually.

Just near Shell Beach is the narrowest part of the Peron peninsula, and a tall, electrified fence has been erected across it with the aim of controlling movement of feral cats and foxes. ..Project Eden.
 

If you walk over the grid on the road near it, you hear a savage dog bark!...there are sensors that trigger the recording to play from the white pole.

 

As part of the project, several species have been re-introduced, with mixed success.

 

The lookout at Eagle Bluff is spectacular with a boardwalk high up along the cliff face, and you can look down on the shallow water  - we saw some sharks and rays there.

 

The drive right up north in Peron N.P. was 47km along a sandy, sometimes deep sand, track so we had to let the tyres down

 The track also went through some salt pans – birridas

 Driving along the track we saw several Bobtails (Stumpy tails)

 

A Western Blue-tongue and three small Sand Goannas – Bungarras. (no photos),

and several dragons...much bigger than Spike.

 

The scenery at the end of the peninsula was absolutely spectacular! Worth the effort of getting there!

 

 

The water was turquoise, with red cliffs and white sand

 

We went for a walk through the red sand dunes

from Cape Peron to Skipjack Point where there was a viewing platform.

 

 

 



A wonderful 5 days!

 

 

 

 

Hamelin Pool...south of Shark Bay

21-22 September 2012

Hamelin Pool is a shallow, highly saline bay (about 100km from Denham - Shark Bay) famous for the stromatolites found there.

The station stay was a welcome change….a few spacious sites – unpowered – surrounded by very rocky, harsh scrub

 

and a big lake… and at last there were lots of birds, and some great sightings! See Rob's bird report below.

 

The stromatolites were only 5km away, and were fascinating! They are World Heritage listed, and are found along the 75km coast of Hamelin Pool, with a jetty to assist viewing.

 

Formed by cyanobacteria, these structures have remained almost unchanged from the earliest life forms that were on earth 3.5 billion years ago!  …. before any plants or animals existed.

Stromatolites photosynthesise, like plants, and release oxygen into the atmosphere. So in that early time on earth, as the oxygen levels increased, it made other life forms possible.
Bill Bryson says in his book about Australia, (which we listened to on CD ty S & D!) he is profoundly grateful to them because without them he wouldn’t be here today!

Another interesting feature of the area is the Coquina limestone base, formed from tiny shells about 4000 years ago. It was once cut into blocks for use as a building material, but now it is protected from being quarried.

 

Good Birds at Last!

 

Hamelin Pool station stay surprisingly turned out to be a really good place for birds...the best so far on this trip.

There was a large bore-fed dam, covering about 20 acres, which provided a permanent habitat for water birds, including some interesting migratory waders.

 

In the day and a half we were there, I recorded 60 species.

Highlights were:

• Variegated Fairy Wren

 

• Splendid Fairy Wren

 

• White-winged Fairy Wren

 

• Chiming Wedgebills which surrounded our camp with their beautiful call... sounds like "Did you get drunk?" (Google the call if you are interested)
• A bevy of Brown Quail - several adults and about 4 young. The young birds hid under bushes and the adults were very reluctant to leave them, offering best-ever viewing of the species.
• Wood Sandpiper
• Little Grassbird...another bird with a distinctive, mournful call.

 

Altogether, a fascinating bird spot.



 



 

Carnarvon

18-20th September

Much of the country from Exmouth to Carnarvon was very arid and monotonous, with very few flowers and birds, but there was one area where there were carpets of pretty pink flowers, the same that we had seen at Lake Ballard.

 

We stopped to look at an unusual fencing construction

and later disturbed a Bustard.

 

Travelling south, we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, and had a few raindrops (!) but they cleared and it was warm, but noticeably cooler than Exmouth.

There are extensive mangroves at Carnarvon along the shallow inlets and river mouth eg at the “one mile jetty”

where we saw many colourful little crabs.

 

The area produces bananas, mangoes,

and other fruit and vegetables, using irrigation from an aquifer under the Gascoyne River which flows only about every 8 – 10 years.

There are disputes about water allocation reductions, and problems with salinity…..a familiar story.

We went to a little café beside the dry, sandy, river bed where they grow bananas

you can see the huge flower at the bottom, and the developing bunches of bananas.

We have enjoyed delicious strawberries from a grower every day – and some Black Sapote

 

We’ve also had fresh local fish as we did in Exmouth. Different species – Crimson Snapper, Rosy Snapper, Gold Band Snapper, Pink Snapper... all delicious!

We visited the Blowhole (I was too scared to go near it!)…spectacular

And Quobba, a beautiful quiet lagoon…it was windy and quite cool so we didn’t try the snorkelling there.

On the way home we saw wheel hubs attached high on the power poles, about very km. Nankeen Kestrels had built nests, and were sitting, on nearly every one. (Ravens occupied one)

Can you see the bird watching us?

 

Looks like Carnarvon is a windy place!

 

Buffel Grass

We’ve been dismayed at the amount of Buffel grass we’ve seen this holiday – from Norseman all the way to Pt. Hedland, and now down to Carnarvon.

Buffel grass is believed to have been accidentally introduced in the packing of imported camel saddles from Afghanistan in the 1860’s. Being drought resistant and also able to withstand heavy grazing, until quite recently it was deliberately spread throughout the dry inland areas for its value as a stock feed. Now many environmentalists put Buffel grass in the same category as European Carp and Cane Toad because of its negative environmental impacts.

Buffel grass responds vigorously to water, so grows especially strongly along river banks and roads (where it receives run-off), creating corridors for the spread of fire. Having a high nitrogen content, it burns very hot, further enabling the spread and intensity of fires and severely reducing the ability of native vegetation to recover.

It aggressively out-competes native grasses and other ground cover plants, creating a very foreign environment for our native birds, insects and animals – as though they don't have enough to contend with already! 
Rob

 

Coral Bay

15^th –17^th September

Coral Bay is a busy little holiday town. It has a very beautiful beach that seems particularly suited to young families with its very safe, shallow, warm water

and is so accessible, being just over the road from the caravan parks and other accommodation.

Fish were fed in the shallows each afternoon, much to the delight of the children. Big North West Snapper came right up to their feet.

 

We felt it didn’t have the magic of Ningaloo at Cape Range N.P. and we didn’t find the snorkelling as good….but it was interesting.  

On our walks along the beach we saw several washed up nudibranchs, which were fantastic.

With the first two, we could see the external gills and little tentacles...the shoe shows its size.

This one was alive in a pool of water

  

 

But couldn't see the features well on the next ones

 

 

 

Maybe this one is upside down? 

 

 

 

and not sure whether this is a nudibranch ..will just have to Google it!

 

 

There were lots of beautiful terns here – Caspian, Crested, Lesser Crested, Roseate, Common and Fairy Terns, plus a few others that Rob was unable to identify.

This is the Common Tern – not very common in Australia. It is a summer visitor from the northern hemisphere, arriving in September and departing in April.

Rob tried fishing one morning, without success,  but hopes Carnarvon might be more suitable.