Most Australians know of the Ningaloo Reef. It is the largest fringing coral reef in Australia and the only fringing coral reef on the western side of a continental landmass in the world. It hosts a variety of marine life including its most famous inhabitant, the whale shark. Few realize that the reef is just part of an exceptional concentration of natural and cultural heritage which makes the Cape Range region of Western Australia a place of world significance. The landscape of Cape Range is known as a ‘karst’ – a massive system of caves, fissures and underground streams etched over millions of years out of the limestone formations that make up much of the peninsula. The Cape Range National Park is an area of 50,581 hectares and containing spectacular gorges and an astonishing ecological diversity of flora and fauna including some subterranean species found nowhere else in the world. On the eastern side of the North West Cape is Exmouth Gulf, home to some of the best preserved arid zone mangrove systems in the world. The area provides the basis for a successful commercial prawn fishery as well as pearling and aquaculture industries. Exmouth Gulf contains diverse and abundant species of seagrass which support internationally significant populations of dugong and turtles. Twice a year around 20,000 Humpback whales pass through the Ningaloo Marine Park and into the waters of the Exmouth Gulf. Female Humpback whales give birth in the deeper waters off-shore and then bring their calves into the calmer Exmouth Gulf to grow and play safely. Ningaloo Reef: At 260kms long it is Australia’s longest fringing coral reef. It is the closest reef to a land mass in the world. Has a vast diversity of marine life, including more than 250 coral species, 66 different molluscs and 500 species of fish. Provides a rookery for turtles, including the loggerhead and endangered green and hawksbill turtles. Is a source of larvae of corals, fish and other marine animals, which are dispersed as far south as the Abrolhos Islands and Rottnest Island on the Leeuwin current. Is only 500 metres from the shore in some places along the coast. Ranks as one of the top 7 most biodiverse marine environments in the world. Cape Range: Covers an area of 50,581 hectares. Has more than 700 known caves. Is home to 630 species of flowering plants including the Sturt Desert Pea and the delicate Bird Flower. 54 species of subterranean fauna live in the cool humid caves, some of which occur nowhere else in the world. Has a vast underground freshwater aquifer that hosts a unique group of underground aquatic animals known as ‘stygofauna’. Supports 84 species of reptiles, of which 13 only occur here. Provides refuge for 11 species of bats. Exmouth Gulf: Around 3,000 square kms in size. Annual harvest of 1,000 tonnes of prawns. Yannarie mangrove system on eastern side of the Gulf is a crustacean and fish breeding ground Provides a warm and sheltered nursery for the development of Humpback whale calves.