Schoers' Travels: Exploring the Coral Coast – Fringing Reefs and Marine Meadows

Geralia Station promoted itself as having an Exmouth Gulf frontage. Well, the stations are pretty big around here, so 35 km after leaving the main road we found ourselves sharing the foreshores with terns, dotterels, pelicans and bustards and marveling at the wild nature of this most isolated northern outpost of the Coral Coast.

Caspian terns in a remote part of Exmouth Gulf

Caspian Tern trio

Red-capped Plover

Part of a large pelican flock, Geralia Station

Australian Bustard takes flight

Geralia managers have decided that tourism now pays better than the cattle that they once ran here. The jillaroos’ quarters now stand among a diversity of station buildings gradually acquiring the patina of age except where an enthusiastic itinerant camp host has practiced his mural skills. If you listen carefully you can still “hear” the excited chatter of workers sharing the highs and lows of another day coaxing cattle to grow on the native herbage which all but disappears in bad years.

Original Jillaroo quarters, Geralia Station

Spartan accommodation for Jillaroos (Female station-hands)

But here, some recent passing showers have coaxed a few colourful Parakeelyas to bloom, raising hopes of new floral highlights along this part of the Western Australian coast.

Campfire drinks and shared travellers’ tales under a full moon helped to etch a pleasant memory of this welcome pause in our journey.

Fields of large termite nests lined our route into Exmouth. After restocking our campervan, we had our first view of the World Heritage-classified Ningaloo Reef coast from the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse. Yet more Humpback Whales cruised just outside the reef front raising expectations of more close encounters of the leviathan kind. We counted ourselves lucky to have pre-booked a bush camping site at “Kurrajong” behind the dunes in the Cape Range National Park. This was a good base to explore three protected snorkeling sites off the beach.

Termite mounds towards Exmouth Gulf...an ever-changing landscape

World Heritage coast south of Vlamingh Head lighthouse. Whales cruised beyond the reef

Kangaroo neighbours at Cape Range National Park campsite

The trick was to choose the right tide to avoid being swept out to Madagascar, and allow the current to take you on a northerly drift over the coral gardens, then arc your way into shore before being flung past a sand spit…your last potential contact with land. Once you got your timing right, your fears were allayed and you trekked back along the beach for another “go”. I am still here to tell the tale having mastered the challenges of Turquoise Bay, the Oyster Stacks and Kurrajong.

The start of "The Drift" at Turquoise Bay, Coral Coast

A far less risky, but still demanding challenge was to photograph the Osprey coming into feed its young at the radio tower of the Cape Range National Park Visitors Centre. Here too, galahs entertained us with feats of aerial gymnastics.

While the flowers were not blooming as profusely as in the Pilbara, red and white-hearted endemic forms of the Sturt Desert Pea were fairly common within the National Park. Many plants, including a short Kurrajong tree were endemic to Cape Range, adding further weight to this region’s successful claim for World Heritage status.

Red and white-hearted forms of Sturts Desert Pea at Cape Range National Park

Cape range Kurrajong

Further south, the small village of Coral Bay had hardly changed since we last visited the region ten years ago. A proposal to construct a super marina were defeated by a massive public campaign. The fact that Western Australian author and play-write, Tim Winton as the campaign’s patron, helped ensure that the natural values of Ningaloo Reef were not compromised.

A perfect arc that is Coral Bay

How long this reef system can withstand the global trends of rising ocean temperatures is another question. So far, as Bronlyn’s pictures from a glass-bottomed boat cruise show that the reef is in better condition overall than the Great Barrier Reef.

Glass-bottomed boat for above-water marine explorers

The symbiotic algae in the coral tissue seem to be able to resist higher temperatures better than some Queensland species and so are not abandoning their coral partners. While we could see many dead branched corals, this is more due to high seas from cyclones rather than direct water heating impacts.

A still-healthy coral ecosystem at Coral Bay

I failed to see the manta ray indicated by the spotter plane on our six hour ecology cruise out of Coral Bay. What the promos fail to say is that Manta Rays congregate where water is quite turbid from a rich plankton soup that they seek out. In other parts of the reef system, we snorkeled in clearer waters where a diversity of corals and large Spangled Emperor fish abounded.

Cruising past the edge of the fringing reef at Coral Bay

Gary looks more professional than he really is!

Nice snorkelling style, hey?

A 3.30pm a fish feeding session on the edge of Coral Bay was a popular (and controlled) activity that attracts the campers from their vans. These Spangled Emperors now grow huge as a result of fishing restrictions in sanctuary zones of the marine park.

Teaching people the message that marine sanctuaries mean more and bigger fish

Completely unexpected, was the extreme close encounters with humpbacks that once again filled the lens with action. These animals never fail to impress, and we considered ourselves lucky to get so close. We literally got showered from the audible exhaled air/water mix from a spout of one individual that almost glanced the side of the boat. I had to wipe my camera lens before continuing.

Two of our many close encounters with Humpback Whales on a Coral Bay "Ecology Cruise"

World Heritage values abound in the large Shark Bay Marine Park located around the tiny town of Denham. The world’s largest herd (11 000) of dugongs graze on the vast seagrass meadows of Shark Bay protected from the ocean swells by the 120km long Dirk Hartog and other ribbon-like islands.

Denham, Shark Bay and Little Lagoon from the air

We four traversed 40 km of the wild Francois Peron National Park to find the odd spring resident dugongs close to shore…and once again saw whales offshore as well as a manta ray skimming over the sandy bed. The tip of Francois Peron National Park was also Cormorant heaven as they lined the shores to dry wings between fishing sessions. The abundance of wildlife in a landscape of high red sandstone cliffs above the turquoise seas under cloud-free skies, made this location one of the most dramatic places on earth we have visited. I must acknowledge the fact that 4WD was necessary to reach here, and our thanks must go to brother-in law, Gary and Jillian for the opportunity to share the ride in their vehicle.

Challenging road 40km north to tip of Francois Peron National Park, Shark Bay

An old, gnarled saltmarsh plant has grown Bonsai-style on a salty clay-pan...humans tried to live here!

Distinctive red sandstones of Cape Peron

Cormorant heaven...a roosting and wing drying strip at tip of Francois Peron National Park

Pied and Black Cormorants abound in fish-rich shores of Shark Bay

A dugong rises for air above the seagrass meadows in a very isolated part of Shark Bay

And can you see the tail that may have helped create mythology about mermaids?

This seagrass is a flowering plant, not an algae and provides the food for an estimated 11 000 dugongs in Shark Bay, the world's largest population of this marine, cow-like grazing herbivore

Apart from the need to visit the stromatolites, ancient photosynthetic bacteria-like creatures that gave earth its oxygen, what more could I experience to take in this marine jewel of Western Australia? I just had to get the big picture from the air! I was lucky enough to get the last seat on a light plane that headed to the western boundary of Shark Bay then to Carnarvon for a one hour break then back to Denham along the entire length of the Francois Peron National Park, traversed earlier by land.

Stromatolites at Hamlin Pools, Shark Bay

Dozens of Humpbacks lolled in this bay, taking a break from the long swim back to Antarctica. Dugong herds also were visible. One could only imagine the terror of the passengers in 1712 on the Dutch East India Company ship Zuytdorp as it crashed into the cliffs now bearing its name at the end of a wild peninsula called “Useless Loop".

Some passengers survived the wreck near here, and perhaps mixed with local Aboriginal people. Some relics are preserved at the Geraldton Museum

Useless loop above the Zuytdorp Cliffs is an extreme 4WD destination

At the northern tip of Dirk Hartog Island on edge of Shark Bay, the Dutch seaman inscribed a message about his landing on a pewter plate on 25th October, 1616

I gave a respectful glance to the horizon westwards where 270 km away, the wreck of HMAS Sydney has recently been found. It was sunk by the German Raider Kormoran on 19^th November 1941 with the loss of 645 lives, the entire crew.

After a less than inspiring stroll around Carnarvon, the return flight gave me a chance to see the landscape features in Francois Peron National Park from a different perspective.

Cape peron at northern tip of Francois Peron National Park

One of many turquise bays on edge of National Park. Note extensive Sea Grass meadows

Another wilderness coastline at Francois Peron National Park

The dirt station tracks clearly converged at the Peron Station homestead, just 6 km from Denham. It faced challenges of drunken shearers who spent smoko at the Denham pub; no reliable fresh water; bore water that was marginally salty for cattle but is now used for a 40⁰C hot tub in which visitors may soak; and the homestead now serves as park headquarters.

Peron Station Homestead

Copious bore water was marginally too salty for cattle

A negative can become a positive: A hot-tub of bore water for national park visitors

So, human endeavours were tried and failed…far better leaving this dry sandy, salty land to the zebra finches and sand goannas and the fringing waters to the dugongs, whales, turtles and manta rays.