1.5 billion years ago, this is what the world looked like. This was the only life on Earth.
Once upon a time there was no life on Earth. This was about 3.5 billion years ago. Then came stromatolites, which is basically just bacteria. For two billion years they were the only life on earth. They’re not much to look like and the shapes that they take on are actually just the remains of the ones that came before, like coral. Eventually, life evolved on Earth and the first thing that life did was eat the stromatolites. The colony at Hamelin Pool is one of the only living colonies still existing in the world.
When we started the trip we had a list of things we wanted to see and this was right up there. Not to put too fine a point on it but the stromatalites of Hamelin Pool at the south end of Shark Bay are probably the single most important discovery of something alive in nature in the history of the world. You may wonder if it’s worth crossing the entire continent just to look at something that looks like cow poo shaped rock. Yes. Yes it is.
Around the corner from the stromatolites is Shell Beach. True to its name it’s a beach completely made of tiny shells. We hung out there for awhile and then drove to Denham, the main town for Shark Bay. On the way, a hawk flew in front of us and I hit it. We went back to look and he was still alive but his wing and leg were messed up. We took it to Denham with us and dropped it off at the tourist office where the state department of environment people picked it up. Hopefully, he’s doing okay. -jp
Die stromatoliten in Shark Bay sind super cool. Vor es gab leben am Erde, es gab Stromatoliten. Für 2 milliarden Jahre, es gab nichts anders. Für 2 milliarden jahren die haben Sauerstoff gemacht, bis die Luft circa 20% Sauerstoff war. Dann gabs richtige leben auf die erde. Plankton,Tiere, du, ich. Danke Stromatoliten. Danke. -jp
Gallery: http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#101162
Hamelin Pool is at the bottom of Shark Bay, here.
