The Stromatolites

Time has literally stood still at Hamelin Pool, the site of what is considered the best example of marine stromatolites in the world.

The stromatolites are the oldest and largest living fossils on earth, and offer a valuable insight to geologists and botanists of what the world looked like billions of years ago. They have grown successfully at Hamelin Bay due to the high salt content of the water held in by a sand bar. Their growth rate is an incredibly slow 0.3mm per year, with those of heights of up to a metre believed to be thousands of years old.