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The nudibranch is an ocean floor dwelling shell-less mollusk, its vivid skin warns predators of it's chemical defence and helps it camouflage amongst colorful sponges and anemones.(Supplied: Blue Media/Vee Jahnel Brosig)

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Hundreds of orange dots float in and around yellow staghorn coral in front of dark background.
Known as a mass coral spawning event, coral in Ningaloo synchronise their annual release of millions of eggs and sperm during one night in March.(Supplied: Artemis Media)
By adapting to cave life, some troglofauna or cave-dwelling creatures lose their exoskeleton pigmentation and may have no eyes.(Supplied: Artemis Media)

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Aerial view of a lush green mangrove trees around green snaking estuary running from left to right side of image.
Exmouth Gulf is the last intact arid zone estuary of its size left on the planet.(Supplied: Artemis Media)
Aerial view of ocean on a sunny bright day with blue , water is bright turquoise blue on left and dark on right.
The arid climate helps to keep Ningaloo's waters clear.(Supplied: Artemis Media)
Cape Range's landscape features a breathtaking combination of deep canyons and mountainous limestone ridges.(Supplied: Artemis Media)
The arid conditions of Cape Range has helped preserve four reef formations going back 15 million years.(Supplied: Artemis Media)

Close-up of a spotted grey whale shark swimming in clear blue waters with a school of small silver and lime green fish.
The world's largest living fish is the Whale Shark.(Supplied: Artemis Media)

Purple blue light shines on rocky mound underwater.
Coral Bay's ancient sentinel coral is nicknamed 'Ayers Rock'.(Supplied: Artemis Media)

Coral Bay's ancient sentinel coral is nicknamed 'Ayers Rock'.(Supplied: Artemis Media)

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A pale fossil with mushroom like gills protrudes from red rock sediment near greeny water.

A small brown and grey wallaby looks towards sky standing in dark crevice between red and brown rocks.

A man with red safety helmet and climbing gear supervises another man abseiling down red rocky cave terrain.

A spotlight shines on yellow semi-translucent millipede in dimly lit rocky cave.
The blind cave millipede lives on leaf litter, sticks and leaves and can only be found in a few dozen caves in Cape Range, WA.(Supplied: Artemis Media)

The blind gudgeon has exclusively been found to dwell in the Cape Range karst wetlands.(Supplied: Artemis Media)
A small translucent fish swims in dark underwater environment near some roots.
The blind gudgeon is eyeless and has a ghostly translucent appearance with very few scales.(Supplied: Artemis Media)

Satellite view of arid plains and estuaries of Exmouth Gulf

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Aerial view of dugongs in turquoise clear waters creating dark shadows as they feed on seagrass.
Exmouth Gulf is a sanctuary for dugongs.(Supplied: Artemis Media)

A pair of hands hold up a dark grey ray with fins in muddy water.
Dr Karissa Lear says the bottlenose wedgefish is critically endangered globally.(Supplied: Artemis Media)

A sea fan (Echinogorgia sp.) found in the sponge gardens of Exmouth Gulf, northern WA.(Supplied: Artemis Media)
Sponge gardens feed on the sediment from Exmouth Gulf's mangrove wetlands.(Supplied: Artemis Media)
The nudibranch is an ocean floor-dwelling shell-less mollusk. Its vivid skin warns predators of its chemical defence and helps it camouflage amongst colourful sponges and anemones.(Supplied: Artemis Media)
This species of coral resembles a harp or lyre and can grow to up to 1.5m wide.(Supplied: Artemis Media)

Aerial view of scattered bright green mangrove trees in red and turquoise blue waters.

Underwater view of mangroves roots reaching up towards water's surface above where trees can be seen through clear waters

Two bright red orange fiddler crabs stand in muddy mangrove environement.

Aerial view of lush populous mangrove trees and snaking blue estuary with blue sky with some clouds in background.

Collage of aged film photographs from 2003 Save Ningaloo rally include large crowds marching and people holding up fish.

Aerial satellite view of Ningaloo coast with world heritage boundary areas.

Aerial satellite view of a coastline and ocean with line boundaries and place names.

The sargassum fish is named after the beds of seaweed - sargassum algae - which it spends it's life floating amongst in the ocean.(Supplied: Artemis Media)

Aerial view of a small grey humpback calf laying on top of the the head of a large black humpback whale in clear bright blue wa
Humpback whales can suffer from acoustic overload made by human-made noise and ships.(Supplied: Artemis Media)
Two small bright blue furry creatures sit on top of orange yellow furry shapes.
Christmas tree worms prefer shallow water tropical coral reef habitats.(Supplied: Artemis Media)
A bright blue coloured fish hides amongst brown and light pink coral in dimly lit environment.

Dugong bones found in Exmouth Gulf by traditional owner and joint manager of Ningaloo Cowan Ryan indicate the location as a big midden site.(Supplied: Vee Jahnel Brosig)

Aerial view of dark blue and turquoise waters with a reef below surface and red desert plains at dusk.

A midshot of a woman smile towards the distance wearing black on top of bright green headband with blue dots.
Baiyungu woman Hazel Walgar is a traditional owner of the Ningaloo Coast and the cultural elder of the Baiyungu Aboriginal Corporation.(Supplied: Artemis Media)
Wide view of people near a rock shelter high up on rocky desert range on a sunny day with clear blue skies.
Baiyungu woman Hazel Walgar says this rock cave was named Winderabandi because it means "the wind come from all directions and it cool".(Supplied: UWA)
Mid shot of hands sorting through excavation dig findings on metal tray.
Emu eggshells, charcoal and up to 60 different kinds of shell fish artefacts have been found at Winderabandi rock cave by archaeologist Peter Veth and his team.(Supplied: Artemis Media)
In a brightly lit rock shelter, a woman and two men sit and kneel over looking at findings from an archaelogical dig.
Professor of Archaeology Peter Veth (left) is working with Hazel Walgar (middle) - a traditional owner of the Ningaloo Coast - on the first significant dig at Ningaloo for a generation.(Supplied: Vee Jahnel Brosig)

Aerial view of a diver in black wetsuit and flippers swimming along large bed of brown algae floating on top of turquoise blue o
In Ningaloo, seaweed beds of sargassum algae grow thick in summer and float through the ocean.(Supplied: Artemis Media)

  • Reporter: Monique Ross
  • Design and Digital Production: Teresa Tan
  • Digital editor: Felicity Sheppard
  • Images: Artemis Media, Violeta j Brosig (Blue Media Exmouth), University of Western Australia, Fremantle Herald, Roel Loopers
  • Video: Artemis Media
  • Satellite imagery: ESRI Satellite basemap, Google Earth
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