In this shallow stretch of Shark Bay in Western Australia, a natural record of Earth"s history lies just below the water"s surface. Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve protects our planet"s biggest collections of stromatolites—small sedimentary rock towers built up over the centuries. Each layer captures fossils of the many microorganisms that populate our oceans. Some of the stromatolites in Hamelin Pool contain fossil specimens that are 3 billion years old. When you"re strolling down the boardwalk of Hamelin Pool, you"re walking over an unparalleled collection of biological history. The view of the Indian Ocean"s not bad either.
Over the boardwalk
Today in History
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Black History Month
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Black History Month
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National Take a Hike Day
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A Carpathian Christmas celebration
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Dalyan, Turkey
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Happy Independence Day!
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3, 2, 1 … Happy New Year!
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It’s National Dolphin Day!
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Sequential images of a total solar eclipse
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Here comes summer
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Memorial Day
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Seasonal lights dazzle in Japan
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Celebrating World Water Day
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Caribou on the move
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Kinder Scout, Peak District National Park, England
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Southern lights for Antarctica Day
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Black Fell in England s Lake District
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Dance of the egret
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A timeless view of the night sky
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The Christmas Bird Count begins
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Meet the slowest flirt in the animal world
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These laurels are hardy
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Surströmming Day