The only way to reach the island is to travel by boat or small plane, and Kieran just so happened to be picking up 2 tons of cement on the mainland by boat, just around the time we were scheduled to arrive in the area. Dirk Hartog is located in the Shark Bay World Heritage area, just off the coast of the small town of Denham. Not only is this area considered a sanctuary for hundreds of different marine animals, but it also plays host to a very nerdy attraction: stromatolites! We were of course super excited to catch a glimpse of these rather unimpressive looking underwater formations, which, for those who are unfamiliar, are the blob-like, rock-like life forms that billions of years ago produced enough oxygen to allow oxygen breathing creatures to evolve. As I adjust my nerd goggles I say, “hooray stromatolites!” On our way into Shark Bay we paused to see them but light was running low and conditions were too windy, so we decided to make it an exit visit.
Kayaking, especially on a calm day (of which there were few), made for some spectacular creature watching. Out in the shallow waters you could often look underneath the boat and observe turtles, stingrays, sharks, and occasionally dugongs! Devin and I were paddling into shore after the sunset and spotted a small reef shark just a few feet from our kayaks bursting out of the water to chase a fish!