This unique beach is located in Australia's Shark Bay World Heritage Area, called Shell Beach. True to its name, from afar, it looks like a white sand beach, but when you get closer, visitors are surprised and extremely excited to discover that the beach is covered with shells, not sand. This unique feature only exists in 2 places in the world.
Imagine billions of white seashells stretching endlessly along the coast under your feet. This will be a great idea for those who are passionate about exploring the beauty of nature. Located on the western edge of Australia, this seashell beach stretches up to 70km. Moreover, if you think that the shells are just a thin layer on the sand, you are very wrong. Because, in the middle of that vast stretch of beach, there are places where the shell layer is up to 10m thick.
Interestingly, the billions of seashells that form at Shell Beach come from a single species of mollusk that thrives in this area. There are two factors that make this an ideal habitat for them.
Firstly, Shell Beach is located in the innermost area of Sharky Bay, a horseshoe-shaped area. This is the area with the highest concentration of seagrass in the world, forming a natural barrier during high and low tides. Secondly, the climate here has little rain, the sea water evaporates a lot, making the salt concentration here twice as high as the normal level in the Indian Ocean. Therefore, in the sea with high salinity, allowing clams and mussels to grow.
Unhindered by tides and predators, the clams thrived and over thousands of years, billions of shells were deposited ashore. Although only a few millimeters in size, these mist clam shells have created a beautiful and unique stretch of coastline.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, people used them to build houses, restaurants and churches by compacting them. But now the area is protected after Shark Bay was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991.
Source: Oddity Central - Article: Bao Khuyen
