Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve in Western Australia
© Abstract Aerial Art/Getty Image
Over the boardwalk
In this shallow stretch of Shark Bay in Western Australia, a natural record of Earth’s history lies just below the water's surface. Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Rerserve protects our planet’s biggest collections of stromatolites - small sedimentary rock towers built up over the centuries. Each layer captures fossils of the many microorganisms that populate our oceans. Some of the stromatolites in Hamelin Pool contain fossil specimens that are three billion years old. When you’re strolling down the boardwalk of Hamelin Pool, you’re walking over an unparalleled collection of biological history. The view of the Indian Ocean’s not bad either.
Related Images
Trumpeter swans at Kelly Warm Springs, near Kelly, Wyoming
A plastic bag hovers underneath a breaking wave at the beach
View from the Great Ocean Road with the Milky Way, Victoria, Australia
Sperm whale mother and albino baby swimming off the coast of Portugal
True-colour image of Earth from Landsat satellites
Rodrigo Koxa riding the biggest wave ever surfed, on Nov 8, 2017, off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal
Fingal Head with a rock fisherman on the headland
Adélie penguins at Possession Island, Antarctica
Bing Today Images
Yurts in the grassland of Mongolia
Jul 28, 2025
Bathing huts on the beach in Skåne County, Sweden
Jul 28, 2024
San Blas Islands, Panama
Jul 28, 2023
Zinnowitz pier, Usedom island, Germany
Jul 28, 2021
Aerial view of Washington Square Park, New York, USA
Jul 28, 2017
Neon Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada
Jul 28, 2016
