Marine Life of Coral Bay
Coral Bay, The Heart of the Ningaloo Reef
The Ningaloo Marine Park encompasses Australia’s largest and most accessible fringing coral reef system. Many creatures are found in the Marine Park, including whale sharks (the world’s largest fish), turtles, dugongs, dolphins, manta rays and humpback whales. The marine park has been divided into zones to protect the biodiversity of the natural environment, while allowing for recreational and commercial use.
The fringing coral reef is what makes the Coral Bay area so special. Living coral is delicate, with only a thin veneer of living tissue covering the hard coral skeleton. Once damaged, coral often takes many years to grow back.
"I signed up for a 7-hour Best of Ningaloo tour with Ningaloo Marine Interactions expecting to go swimming with manta rays in Coral Bay and experience some super awesome snorkeling on Ningaloo Reef. But the reality of the day was so much more than I could have imagined." REVIEW ON www.thesweetwanderlust.com
MANTA RAYS
SWIM WITH ME ALL YEAR ROUND
You can swim with manta rays all year round at Coral Bay. Like whale sharks, manta rays are filter feeders and have a large toothless mouth which they use like a sieve to scoop up plankton and krill. Their wingspans measure several metres, enabling them to swim at rapid speeds, occasionally leaping out of the water and landing with a slap. Unlike stingrays, manta rays do not have a sharp barb, making them very safe to swim, snorkel or dive with.
Watch these majestic creatures glide elegantly and effortlessly through the water by joining a tour to swim with Manta Rays at Coral Bay. You may be lucky enough to see a group of males displaying their acrobatic skills, as they compete with each other for a female’s attention.
WHALE SHARKS
SWIM WITH ME FROM MARCH TO JUNE
Every year, between mid-March and mid-July, these gentle giants of the ocean congregate in the Ningaloo Marine Park following the mass spawning of coral.
In Australia, Ningaloo Reef currently holds the world’s highest interaction rate of whale shark numbers and accessibility -boasting a 97% interaction rate in 2016, 94% rate in 2017 and 97% in 2018.
This means tourists are almost guaranteed to successfully swim with a whale shark. Ningaloo is one of the only places on the planet where these huge but completely harmless fish can be reliably located in large aggregations.
HUMPBACK WHALES
SWIM WITH ME FROM JULY TO NOVEMBER
Humpback Whales appear along the north west coast between the months of July to November. You can see these giants of the ocean on their journey between summer breeding grounds in the North West shelf and winter feeding grounds in the Antarctic. Humpback whales are massive - they can grow up to 19 metres in length and way up to 40 tonnes.
Coral Bay is one of two locations in Western Australia where you experience an in-water interaction with migrating Humpback Whales. Tours run from 1 July to 30 October in Coral Bay, the heart of the Ningaloo Reef.
TURTLES
Sea turtles can be encountered in Coral Bay all year round and hatchlings may be sighted during turtle nesting season. You can snorkel with them through the beautiful coral gardens of the Ningaloo Marine Park.
Three of the world’s seven marine turtle species, nest on mainland beaches and islands of Ningaloo Reef during the summer months from November to March.
