30th June 2014
Today we visited the Ocean Park aquarium to find out more about the marine life in Shark Bay waters. This included finding out the reason we have seen little life in the sea is because it is too cold. The ocean is only about 15 degrees which means the fish and reptiles go and find a deep channel and hibernate.
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| Lion fish |
The tour by marine biologists was very informative. They have fish and reptiles [sea snakes only] from the bay in captivity so they can be seen close up. There was everything from clown fish and their anemones to a 2.5 metre lemon shark that was so well fed it wasn't interested in the bait being offered. We also saw a metre long sea snake surface to breath which apparently they only do about once every 2 hours when sluggish.
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| Goulet Bluff |
After this we visited and walked various bays and bluffs; it was another stunningly beautiful day. Once again we were a bit disappointed to see the 4WD enthusiasts had been on a lot of the beaches and dunes which is quite damaging to the otherwise pristine environment.
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| Sandspit at Goulet Bluff |
Shell beach is composed of tiny salt tolerant cockles which are the only creature to survive in the very saline bay. The cockles live 4,000 to a square metre on the ocean floor and when they die the shells are washed up on the shore so the beach is composed entirely of tiny shells and is a brilliant white. In some areas the shells are 9 metres deep.
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| Shell beach |
Near to this beach is the aptly named Feral Fence, which stretches across the narrowest part of the peninsular and into the sea about 30 metres on each side. The fence is sunk into the ground and has an electrified wire along the top. The only place left for a determined feral animal to get through is at the road. There is a cattle grid here which stops the goats and sheep but we wondered how the cats and foxes were put off. This John found out when he walked over the cattle grid. There is a movement sensor which sets off a recording of a barking dog and he nearly jumped out of his skin! Any carnivores that do make it through, are subject to a baiting programme though it can't be 100% successful as we had seen a feral fox earlier in the day.
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| Feral Fence across Peron Peninsula |
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