Travel Guide Hamelin Pool

Hamelin Pool is the gateway to the famous Shark Bay World Heritage Area. Shark Bay was named by William Dampier, the first Englishman to stay here, in 1699. The place is also called Gutharraguda, meaning two bays or two waters in the Malgana language, one of the three peoples sharing the bay with the Nhanda and Yingkarta peoples. Earlier, the Dutchman Dirk Hartog, who gave his name to one of the bay's islands, passed through here in 1616. It was also here that the French deposited a bottle to take possession of Australia in 1772 - don't hesitate to remind the Australians! In the 1850s, Shark Bay became an important fishing ground, especially for pearls, whose nacre was then used to make buttons. The pearls were already used for jewelry, but the less perfect Baroque pearls were sold to Chinese merchants to be crushed and sold as an aphrodisiac. Today, Shark Bay is a natural refuge, listed by UNESCO for its incredible ecological heritage. In addition to its natural beauty, Shark Bay is home to several endangered marine and terrestrial animal species, as well as the Hamelin Pool stromatolites, the world's first animal form. The scientific community has been abuzz since June 2022 with the discovery of the world's largest plant at Shark Bay: a 180 km-long seagrass bed estimated to be 4,500 years old. At Shark Bay, you're bound to see sharks, as well as the famous Monkey Mia dolphins, impressive manta rays and a few dugongs between Monkey Mia and the Kimberley coast. If you're there between August and October, try to catch a glimpse of thehumpback whales on their migration. Hamelin Pool is a declared marine reserve, located inside Shark Bay, some 30 km off the North West Coastal Highway. The bay was named by Nicolas Baudin during his expedition to the Southern Territories in the early 19th century, in honor of Jacques Hamelin, captain of the Naturalist during the voyage. The site is world-famous for its stromatolites, the oldest forms of organized life.Apart from the Old Telegraph Station, the Caravan park and its store, there's not much to see at Hamelin Pool.