The European history of the area goes back to when Dirk Hartog, the [wiki=a67d4cbdd1b59e0ffccc6bafc83eb033]Dutch[/wiki] explorer landed at Shark Bay in 1616, over 150 years before Captain Cook made his first landing at [wiki=85840d1b797c03a75dc9c5b0fdca85fd#Kurnell]Kurnell[/wiki] in 1770 leading to the establishment of the [wiki=89f9c9f489be2a83cf57e53b9197d288]British[/wiki] colony at [wiki=1fc91e86962825bb745de53d1657b3e4]Sydney[/wiki] 18 years later. The Dutch didn't care for the area, as it contained none of the spices or other valuables they were looking to trade or acquire. Their further visits were largely the result of being blown off course on route to the Dutch East Indies (modern day [wiki=4647d00cf81f8fb0ab80f753320d0fc9]Indonesia[/wiki]).
Francois Peron National Park is named after a French naturalist who visited Shark Bay in 1801 and 1803. For many years it was a sheep station. The government bought it in 1990. The old homestead is now a museum.
Shark Bay has some amazing landscapes. There are beautiful beaches, including Shell Beach, made entirely of shells. There are cliffs, bays and inlets.
A large section of Shark Bay has been cleared of non-native wildlife and fenced off at the narrowest point to provide a conservation reserve for rare Australia wildlife. The project is called Project Eden. Many native animals have been releases including the woylie, mallee fowl, southern brown bandicoot and bilby.
The Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve is home to the stromatolites, a rare and ancient form of life.
Shark Bay Airport (MJK) is around 8km from Denham, and around 16km from Monkey Mia on the Monkey Mia Road. The airport has a sealed landing strip, but no terminal facilities of any substance.
Skywest [url=http://www.skywest.com.au]]services the airport from [[Perth[/url]] four times a week, and from [wiki=997d4960e35451f29c183d55c96ab615]Exmouth[/wiki] weekly.
[wiki=235ea8334c45793384ab912eee745406]Carnarvon[/wiki] is 350km from Denham/Monkey Mia, and has daily flights from [wiki=4bc44fa25c7afaf63618e6586084052e]Perth[/wiki].
Shark Bay is around 1000km drive north from [wiki=4bc44fa25c7afaf63618e6586084052e]Perth[/wiki]. It is around 5000km drive from [wiki=1fc91e86962825bb745de53d1657b3e4]Sydney[/wiki], and about as far away from [wiki=1fc91e86962825bb745de53d1657b3e4]Sydney[/wiki] as you can get on the [wiki=4442e4af0916f53a07fb8ca9a49b98ed]Australian[/wiki] mainland.
Shark Bay Car Hire [http://www.carhire.net.au/] is a local operator. None of the majors operate in the area.