Denham (Shark Bay)

Denham evolved as a thriving pearl town and is now very much a quaint tourist town great for fishing, salt and a gate way to Monkey Mia. There is also a working pearl farm known as Blue Lagoon Pearls (more on that later).

About 45km south of Denham is Shell Beach. It was fascinating to see a beach with no sand and just millions of small white Coquina Shells accumulated over time. It is estimated that in some spots the shells are ten metres deep.

Throwing shells into the air (landing on their heads of course)

Up to 10m deep - very impressive

I wish it was gold!

Heading back towards Denham we explored some beautiful coastline including Whalebone and Eagle Bluff. Eagle Bluff is home to osprey and an opportunity to observe the marine life on a 200m boardwalk. The waters were so clear so we hoped to see some sharks in Shark Bay (one would hope), but settled for some dolphins and schools of fish instead. There are 2 small limestone islands in front of the walk which were once mined for guano and now bird breeding colonies.

Matt exploring Whalebone

Eagle Bluff

You could see & hear heaps of birds on the Islands

The kids could not wait to go and see Ocean Park which is a small scale marine park on the shores of Shark Bay. The marine biologists gave us an informative and up close tour of their displays including the shark pool which housed 3 lemon sharks. We were most intrigued about a puffer fish which is extremely poisonous. Apparently over in Japan chefs train for 7 years to successfully remove the poison and offer part of it as an expensive delicacy to their customers. The only problem is that if a slight bit of poison is left, you can say goodbye (many people have died). It is a bit like Russia Roulette. There is a chef currently in jail after 3 of his customers recently died eating the fish. Why would you bother? - can only happen in Japan.

The lemon sharks were a bit of a lemon when it came to feeding

We finished our day with a relaxing lunch and afternoon at Little Lagoon and then grabbing some wholesale seafood before heading back for a hard earned beer (sounds like an add for VB).