Francis Peron National Park

Shark Bay is home to the largest sea grass meadows in the world. Because of this they are home to the largest population of dugongs in the world. Dugongs are similar to manatees and are sometimes called seacows. Sadly, it was the wrong season for us to see one. In the picture below, you can see a line where the water changes from a lighter to a darker color. The darker color is where the sea grass is growing. This environment is one of the reasons Shark Bay is a World Heritage area.




World Heritage areas are regarded as globally outstanding. They are the most important natural and cultural treasures on Earth. Shark Bay is one of a very few places to meet all four natural criteria for selection as a World Heritage area. In addition to the stromatolites and the seagrass beds, the area mis home to some of Australia’s most endangered mammals. These small marsupials have been driven to the brink of extinction by feral cats and foxes. Because the area is a peninsula they have built a fence across the narrow part and attempted to eradicate the foxes and cats. They have had some luck eliminating the foxes, but are still struggling to reduce the number of cats. Endangered mammals include the
•Shark Bay mouse
•Western barred bandicoot
•Greater bilby
•Rufous hare-wallaby (Mala)
•Banded hare-wallaby
•Shark Bay boodie
•Woylie
•Greater stick-nest rat

There is an ongoing project to breed and release sefveral of these species in Francis Peron National Park. It is called Project Eden.

Here is a slideshow of our visit to the park. We had morning tea there. We included a picture of our guide, Keith.



We enjoyed a great trip to Francis Peron National Park.Our guide cooked us a delicious lunch and we saw spectacular views over the Indian Ocean. We saw a sea eagle, rays, a shark, dolphins and a school of Skipperjack fish.We learned about uses of many native plants, one is even called the medicine plant. We are not looking forward to flying back in the rain tomorrow, but our guide assures us there will indeed be rain. We hope to post lots from Perth tomorrow night. Cheers!