Szerkesztő:Palocvend/Félkész/Cápa-Öböl Természeti Park

Cápa-öböl Természeti Park
Világörökség
Cápa-öböl, Nyugat-Ausztrália
Adatok
Ország	Ausztrália
Típus	Természeti helyszín
Kritériumok	VII, VIII,IX, X
Felvétel éve	1991
Elhelyezkedése
d. sz. 25° 30′, k. h. 113° 30′-25.5, 113.5

A Louis Henri de Saulces de Freycinet által elnevezett Useless Harbour a Cápa-öbölben, a SPOT műholdról nézve

A Cápa-öböl környékének térképe

Zuytdorp Cliffs, 2006

A Shark Bay, azaz Cápa-öböl világörökségi helyszín Nyugat-Ausztrália Gascoyne régiójának egy nagyon különleges területén. A 2 200 902 hektáros helyszínt, amely nagyjából 800 km-re található Perthtől, az ausztrál kontinens legnyugatibb pontján, a következőképpen jellemzik:

„...A Cápa-öböl vizei, szigetei és félszigetei...nagyszámú rendkívüli természeti sajátosságot rejtenek, beleértve a világ legnagyobb és legváltozatosabb tengerifű mezőit. Ennek ellenére a sztromatolitoknak - mikróbás szövedékek telepei, amelyek kemény, kupola formájú lerakódásokat alkotnak, és a földi élet legkorábbi bizonyítékai - köszönhető, hogy a terület ennyire ismert lett. A környék híres gazdag tengeri élővilágáról is, egyebek mellett a nagyszámú dugongról, valamint menedéket ad számos egyéb fenyegetett fajnak.”

– Rövid összefoglaló a a nyugat-ausztráliai Cápa-öbölről az UNESCO világörökségi honlapján.

22 000 évvel ezelőtti nyomok utalnak arra, hogy az ausztrál őslakosok birtokba vették a Cápa-öböl környékét. Ezidőtájt a vidék szárazföld volt, az emelkedő tengervíz 6-8 000 évvel ezelőtt öntötte el. Az őslakosok jelentős számú szemétdombját találták meg, különösen a Peron-félsziget és a Dirk Hartog-sziget területén, s ezek azt bizonyították, hogy ételeik jó része a vízből és az azt körülvevő szárazföldről származott. 1616-ban egy Dirk Hartog által vezetett expedíció vetődött a környékre, Ausztráliát felkereső második európai csapatként a Willem Janszoon kapitány által parancsnokolt Duyfken hajó legénységét követően, amely 1606-ban látogatta meg a Cape York-félszigetet. A Cápa-öböl elnevezést 1699-ben William Dampier adta a tájnak.

A 2011. évi népszámlálás szerint a világörökségi helyszín lakossága 1 000 főnél is kevesebb volt az 1500 km-t meghaladó partszakaszon. A fél tucat kis település alkotta népesség a teljes terület alig 1%-át foglalja el.

Shark Bay World Heritage site

The World Heritage status of the region was created and negotiated in 1991. The site was gazetted on the Australian National Heritage List on 21 May 2007 under the {{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|eahlaa12003459|Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1), 2003}}.

Protected areas

Inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1991, the site covers an area of 2 200 902 hektár (5 438 550 acre), of which about 70 per cent are marine waters. It includes many protected areas and conservation reserves, including Shark Bay Marine Park, Francois Peron National Park, Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve, Zuytdorp Nature Reserve and numerous protected islands. Denham and Useless Loop both fall within the boundary of the site, yet are specifically excluded from it. Shark Bay was the first Australian site to be classified on the World Heritage list.^[forrás?]

Landforms

The bay itself covers an area of 1 300 000 hektár (3 200 000 acre), with an average depth of 9 méter (30 ft). It is divided by shallow banks and has many peninsulas and islands. The coastline is over 1500 kilométer (930 mi) long. There are about 300 kilométer (190 mi) of limestone cliffs overlooking the bay. One spectacular segment of cliffs is known as the Zuytdorp Cliffs. The bay is located in the transition zone between three major climatic regions and between two major botanical provinces.

Dirk Hartog Island is of historical significance due to landings upon it by early explorers. In 1616, Dirk Hartog landed at Inscription Point on the north end of the island and marked his discovery with a pewter plate, inscribed with the date and nailed to a post. This plate was then replaced by Willem de Vlamingh and returned to Holland. It is now kept in the National Museum of Holland. There is a replica in the Shark Bay Discovery Centre in Denham.

Bernier and Dorre islands in the north-west corner of the heritage area are among the last-remaining habitats of Australian mammals threatened with extinction.^[forrás?] They are used, with numerous other smaller islands throughout the marine park, to release threatened species that are being bred at Project Eden in François Peron National Park. These islands are free of feral non-native animals which might predate the threatened species, and so provide a safe haven of pristine environment on which to restore species that are threatened on the mainland.

The Australian Wildlife Conservatory is the guardian of Faure Island, off Monkey Mia. Seasonally, turtles come here to nest and are the subject of studies conducted in conjunction with the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) on this sheltered island.

Fauna

Shark Bay is an area of major zoological importance. It is home to about 10,000 dugongs (‘sea cows’), around 12.5% of the world's population, and there are many Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, particularly at Monkey Mia. The dolphins here have been particularly friendly since the 1960s. The area supports 26 threatened Australian mammal species, over 230 species of bird, and nearly 150 species of reptile. It is an important breeding and nursery ground for fish, crustaceans, and coelenterates. There are over 323 fish species, with many sharks and rays.

Some Bottlenose Dolphins in Shark Bay exhibit one of the few known cases of tool use in marine mammals (along with sea otters): they protect their nose with a sponge while foraging for food in the sandy sea bottom. Humpback and Southern right whales use the waters of the bay as migratory staging post while other species such as Bryde's Whale come into the bay less frequently but to feed or rest. The endangered green and loggerhead turtles nest on the bay's sandy beaches. The largest fish in the world, the whale shark, gathers in the bay during the April and May full moons.

Flora

Shark Bay has the largest known area of seagrass, with seagrass meadows covering over 480 000 hektár (1 200 000 acre) of the bay. It includes the 103 000 hektár (250 000 acre) Wooramel Seagrass Bank, the largest seagrass bank in the world. Shark Bay also contains the largest number of seagrass species ever recorded in one place; twelve species have been found, with up to nine occurring together in some places. The seagrasses are a vital part of the complex environment of the bay. Over thousands of years, sediment and shell fragments have accumulated in the seagrasses to form vast expanses of seagrass beds. This has raised the sea floor, making the bay shallower. Seagrasses are the basis of the food chain in Shark Bay, providing home and shelter to various marine species and attracting the dugong population.

In Shark Bay's hot, dry climate, evaporation greatly exceeds the annual precipitation rate. Thus, the seawater in the shallow bays becomes very salt-concentrated, or 'hypersaline'. Seagrasses also restrict the tidal flow of waters through the bay area, preventing the ocean tides from diluting the sea water. The water of the bay is 1.5 to 2 times more salty than the surrounding ocean waters.

Stromatolites in Hamelin Pool are ancient structures that are built by microbes.

Stromatolites

About 1,000 years ago cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) began building up stromatolites in Hamelin Pool in the southern part of the bay. These structures are modern equivalents of the earliest signs of life on Earth, with fossilized stromatolites being found dating from 3.5 billion years ago at North Pole near Marble Bar, in Western Australia, and are considered the longest continuing biological lineage. They were first identified in 1956 at Hamelin Pool as a living species, before that only being known in the fossil record. Hamelin Pool contains the most diverse and abundant examples of living stromatolite forms in the world. Other occurrences are found at Lake Clifton near Mandurah and Lake Thetis near Cervantes. It is hypothesized that some stromatolites contain a new form of chlorophyll, chlorophyll f.

Shark Bay World Heritage Discovery Centre

Facilities around the World Heritage area, provided by the Shire of Shark Bay and the WA Department of Environment and Conservation, include the Shark Bay World Heritage Discovery Centre in Denham which provides interactive displays and comprehensive information about the features of the region.

Access

Shark Bay Road

Access to Shark Bay is by air via Shark Bay Airport, and by the World Heritage Drive, a 150 km link road between Denham and the Overlander Roadhouse on the North West Coastal Highway.

Specific reserved areas

National parks and reserves in the World Heritage Area

Dolphin at Monkey Mia

• Bernier Island
• Dorre Island
• Charlie Island
• Francois Peron National Park
• Friday Island
• Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve
• Hamelin Pool/East Faure Island High-Low Water Mark
• Koks Island
• Monkey Mia
• Shark Bay Marine Park
• Shell Beach (Western_Australia)
• Small Islands
• Zuytdorp Nature Reserve

Bays of the World Heritage area

• Hamelin Pool
• Henri Freycinet Harbour
• L'Haridon Bight

Islands of the World Heritage area

• Bernier Island
• Dirk Hartog Island
• Faure Island

Peninsulas of the World Heritage area

• Bellefin Prong
• Heirisson Prong
• Carrarang Peninsula
• Peron Peninsula

IBRA sub regions of the Shark Bay Area

The Shark Bay area has three bioregions within the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) system: Carnarvon, Geraldton Sandplains, and Yalgoo. The bioregions are further divided into sub{{endash}}bioregions:

• Carnarvon bioregion (CAR) –
  • Wooramel sub region (CAR2) – most of Peron Peninsula and coastline east of Hamelin Pool
  • Cape Range sub region (CAR1) – (not represented in area)

• Geraldton Sandplains bioregion (GS) –
  • Geraldton Hills sub region (GS1) – Zuytdorp Nature Reserve area
  • Leseur sub region (GS2) – (not represented in area)

• Yalgoo bioregion (YAL) –
  • Tallering sub region (YAL2) (not represented in area)
  • Edel subregion (YAL1) – Bernier, Dorre and Dirk Hartog Islands

See also

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• Search for HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran
• List of islands in Shark Bay

Further reading

• Duyker, Edward. François Péron: An Impetuous Life: Naturalist and Voyager. Melbourne, Victoria: Miegunyah/MUP, 349. o. (2006. április 25.). ISBN 978-0-522-85260-8 

External links

A Wikimédia Commons tartalmaz Palocvend/Félkész/Cápa-Öböl Természeti Park témájú médiaállományokat.

Official websites

• UNESCO World Heritage List: Shark Bay, Western Australia
• Australian National Heritage Register listing for Shark Bay, Western Australia
• {{cite map}}
• Shark Bay World Heritage Discovery Centre
• Shark Bay World Heritage Area

Additional information

• Shire of Shark Bay
• The Shark Bay Herald