People have gathered in Shark Bay for many generations. Indigenous Malgana, Dutch traders, French naturalists, English colonisers, local pearlers, pastoralists, fishers and conservationists have layered the place with cultural diversity. When people inhabit an environment they create a cultural landscape. They leave traces, for days or millennia. Shark Bay is strewn with such relics – of ship wrecks, stations, sheds, fences, abandoned camps and landings.
1616 Dirk Hartog
Dirk Hartog was captain of the Dutch trading ship, Eendracht. Whilst sailing from the Cape of Good Hope using the Brouwer route to reach the East Indies, he veered off course and sighted an unexpected landmass. On 25th October 1616, Dirk Hartog landed on what is now known as Cape Inscription on Dirk Hartog Island. As proof of his presence, he erected a post to which he nailed a pewter plate from the ships gallery inscribed with the particulars of his visit. The message on this pewter dish translates as: 'arrived here on 25 October 1616.' A replica of this plate can be seen or purchased in the Shark Bay Discovery Centre. The original plate is now housed in Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum.
For more information on Dirk Hartog, please visit the website of the Western Australian Museum
1697 Willem de Vlamingh
More than 80 years after Dirk Hartog landed, Willem de Vlamingh voyaged up the coast looking for survivors of a missing ship. After spending some time exploring South Passage, he landed at Cape Inscription the on 2nd February 1697 and found Dirk Hartogs pewter plate. Recognising its historical significance, Vlamingh removed the plate and replaced it with his own, delivering the original to the Dutch authorities in Batavia (Jakarta). The new plate was engraved with the original inscription as well as an account of his own landing. Vlamingh's plate remained untouched at Cape Inscription for 104 years, it was discovered in 1801 by Nicolas Baudin. A replica of this plate can be seen or purchased in the Shark Bay Discovery Centre.
For more information on the plates, please visit the website of the Western Australian Museum
1699 William Dampier
In August of 1699, William Dampier was the first Englishman to visit the Western coast of Australia and anchored at a place called Dampier's Landing. On a scientific expedition, he spent several days exploring the region and made detailed observations of the local wildlife. Dampier named the area 'Sharks Bay in recognition of the large number of sharks he observed. He also made the first scientific collection of Australian plants, which is preserved today at the Oxford University.
1772 François De Saint-Alouran
François De Saint-Alouran was a French navigator who accompanied Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Tremarec in a search for the mysterious 'Gonneville Land'; a continent supposedly situated in the southern seas. In February 1772 the two ships were separated by a storm, Saint-Alouarn abandoned his search for Kerguelen's ship and sailed on. On 30th March 1772, Saint-Alouran landed at Turtle Bay on the northern tip of Dirk Hartog Island. He claimed possession of the western half of New Holland for King Louis XVI. To support the claim he buried two bottles containing statements of proclamation written on parchment. Two silver coins were placed on the top of each bottle and sealed using lead caps. In 1998, archaeologists uncovered the coins, lead caps and one of the bottles, the artefacts are now on display in the Western Australian Maritime Museum.
1801, 1803 Nicolas Baudin
Under orders from Napoleon, Baudin led a voyage of discovery between 1801 and 1803 and contributed significantly to the knowledge of Shark Bay. Buadin's two ships, Le Géographe and Le Naturaliste explored Shark Bay, mapping and naming many features. They named Bernier Island after the expedition's astronomer, Bellefin Prong after the surgeon and Heirisson Prong after the sub-lieutenant. The navigator–surveyor Louis de Freycinet named Henri Freycinet Harbour for his brother and Cape Lesuer for the ships artist. François Péron was the ships naturalist and named the peninsula that now bears his name. In 1803, the expedition returned to Shark Bay and made excursions to different parts of the Peron Peninsula and made notes on the flora, fauna and Aboriginal people. These were the first written descriptions of the Malgana people to be presented to the outside world. Baudin died of tuberculosis in Mauritius in 1803.
1801, 1803, 1804 François Péron
In 1801 Péron was travelling as a naturalist on Baudin's expedition exploring Shark Bay, he made some of the earliest recordings of the areas wildlife and first people, with his focus being on scientific exploration. In 1803, the expedition returned to Shark Bay and anchored off Cape Lesuer. Péron had heard of reports of Indigenous people on the mainland and organised walking expeditions across the peninsula from west to east. The expedition party attempted to communicate with some Indigenous people but they fled. Péron's enthusiasm often led him to disregard Baudin's orders and contributed to ongoing friction between the two men.
In 1804, Péron was the leading scientist when Le Géographe returned to France. Of the 23 scientists who began the expedition, only 3 returned. As the only zoologist to complete the trip, the task fell to him to record the zoological findings. 100, 00 animal specimens were taken to France, many of which were collected in Shark Bay and Péron's writings established him as the father of anthropology. The collection included 4,000 species – one of the greatest achievements in scientific history, of these 2,500 were new species to science. Péron died of tuberculosis in 1810 in France.
1818 Louis De Freycinet
In 1817, Freycinet was given command of the corvette L'Uranie with the commission to finish some of the surveys and scientific work left incomplete by Baudin. His wife Rose refused to be separated from her husband and joined the ship's company as a stowaway. L'Uranie sailed into Shark Bay in 1818, and Freycinet spent some days collecting botanical specimens and exploring the inlets of the coastal areas. His company also met with a group of Malgana people, a tense encounter that was diffused with dancing and an exchange of gifts. A party was sent across to Dirk Hartog Island to recover de Vlamingh's plate, it was delivered to the Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Elegant Literature in Paris. It stayed there until 1947 when the French Government presented it to the people of Australia. The plate is now in the Western Australian Maritime Museum.
1858 Henry Mangles Denham
The town of Denham is named in honour of Captain Henry Mangles Denham who spent months charting Shark Bay in 1858. Denham's hydrographical survey was conducted partly in an effort to find alternative locations for convict settlements and was the longest running survey ever commissioned by the Royal Navy. He managed to navigate the shallow waters of both the eastern and western gulfs and named several islands including Pelican, Smith and Egg islands. Salutation Island was so named after a friendly encounter with Aboriginal people who were invited on board the Herald and given gifts. But the names Hopeless Reach, Disappointment Loop and Disappointment Reach suggest Denham's work was also full of frustrations. Denham also literally put his name on the Shark Bay landscape at Eagle Bluff where the words "Herald Denham 1858" were carved into the limestone cliff. When this section of the rock broke away from the cliff it was moved to the township, and is now on display in Denham's Pioneer Park.