Shark Bay has the world’s most diverse and abundant examples of living marine stromatolites.
Stromatolity ve Žraločí zátoce
Stromatolites of Shark Bay
Shark Bay has the world’s most diverse and abundant examples of living marine stromatolites. These ‘living fossils’ have helped scientists unravel the history of life on Earth. The stromatolites were a major factor in Shark Bay being declared a World Heritage Area.
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Living fossils
Stromatolites are rock-like structures built by microbes (single-celled cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae). Shark Bay’s stromatolites are only 2,000 to 3,000 years old, but they are similar to life forms found on Earth up to 3.5 billion years ago! They provide a unique insight into what the world was like at the dawn of time.
Where to see the stromatolites 
Hamelin Pool is one of only three places on Earth where you can see living marine stromatolites. (The other two places are in the Bahamas.) Stromatolites are found in Hamelin Pool because its water is twice as salty as normal seawater. Few predators and competitors can survive these conditions, allowing the microbes to flourish and form stromatolites much as they did billions of years ago.ZDROJ: UNESCO - Shark Bay
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