Wooramel Sea Grass Bank

Statement of Significance

Aesthetic Value – Importance for its contribution to the aesthetic values of the setting demonstrated by having impact on important vistas.
Research Value – Importance for information contributing to a wider understanding of natural history by virtue of its use as a research site, teaching site, type locality, reference or benchmark site.
Social Value – Importance as a place highly valued by a community or cultural group for reasons of social, cultural, spiritual and education associations.
Social Value – Importance in contributing to a community’s sense of place.

Physical Description

Of international significance, the Wooramel Seagrass Bank is the largest structure of its kind in the world. The bank structure is a major part of the internationally significant Shark Bay region and one of the most diverse communities of their kind in the world with thirteen subspecies represented. The seagrass bank is the main benchmark for research into carbonate banks, seagrass and other baffles on a world-wide basis. The area has high scientific research potential in the fields of oceanography, sedimentology and marine biology.

History

The Wooramel Seagrass Bank forms a shallow marginal platform along the eastern shore of Shark Bay. The bank is 129km long with an average width of 8km. The bank’s structure is a wedge shaped body of sediment, composed mainly of biogenic carbonate debris mixed with terrigenous detrital grains. The seagrasses act as organic baffles and also provide habitats for organisms which contribute skeletal carbonate. Fifty-four tidal channels are the main paths for tidal waters across the intertidal and sublittoral zones. The Wooramel Bank contains a variety of marine habitats including wide sublittoral and intertidal sandflats inhabited by molluscan communities, extensive mangrove or algal mat communities in the intertidal and supratidal zones and channel levees and floors populated by seagrass communities. The Wooramel Bank was documented in the early 1970s by Graham R. Davies in a paper that has become the standard reference for research on carbonate banks, seagrasses and organic baffles. Its southern parts are nurseries for juvenile fish, crustaceans and achinoderms within the Shark Bay ecosystem. It is probable that the seagrass forms an important element in the nutrient cycles of marine biota throughout the bay. Large areas are dominated by cymodocea and posidonia support a prolific and varied assemblage of shell secreting organisms. Gastropods, polychaete worms and crustaceans inhabit the shelter areas between the plants. The ambhibolis and halodule seagrass beds of the Wooramel River Delta are believe to provide essential foraging grounds for dugongs in summer. The existence of these nutritious beds could be crucial to the survival of the region’s dugong population.

Integrity/Authenticity

High/High

Condition

Good

Creation Date

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