Shark Bay provides a unique insight into stromatolites at Hamelin Pool.
Stromatolites are considered 'living fossils', part of the Earth's evoluntionary history.
Living microbes that build the stromatlites are similar to those found in 3,500 million year old rocks which are the earliest record of life on earth. As such, the stromatolites provide a record of local environmental changes. Hamelin Pool,Shark Bay is one of only two places on earth where living marine stromatolites exist.
The marine stromatolites found in Hamelin Pool of Shark Bay are considered to be the best example of their kind found in the world. Stromatolites grow successfully and undisturbed at Hamelin Pool because the sea water is twice as saline as usual sea water due to a bar across the entrance of the bay and also due to rapid evaporation from shallow water. Stromatolites which are found to be up to a metre high are believed to be hundreds to thousands of years old as they grow at a maximum of 0.3mm per year.
A jetty was constructed to allow the viewing of these amazing life forms, without causing any damage. Hamelin Pool is a place of great interest to botanists and geologists as it gives an indication of what the earth may have looked like about 3.5 billion years ago, when stromatolites grew widespread across the water.
