SHARK BAY  is is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The 5,438,550 acre area is located approximately 800 kms  north of Perth, on the westernmost point of the Australian continent. UNESCO’s official listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage Site reads: “Shark Bay’s waters, islands and peninsulas….have a number of exceptional natural features, including one of the largest and most diverse seagrass beds in the world. However it is for its stromatolites (colonies of microbial mats that form hard, dome-shaped deposits which are said to be the oldest life forms on earth), that the property is most renowned. The property is also famous for its rich marine life including a large population of dugongs, and provides a refuge for a number of other globally threatened species”