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The lighthouse at Vlamingh Head, Exmouth, is one of the few places in Australia you can see the sun both rise and set over the sea.
To the west is Ningaloo, the world’s largest fringing reef, meaning you can swim to it straight off the white sandy beach, unlike the Great Barrier Reef.
To the east of the North West Cape peninsula is the Exmouth Gulf, an important ecosystem for fish and dugongs, but one that lacks the World Heritage listing protection of the reef.
A snorkeller swims alongside a whale shark near Exmouth.
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Ten-Year Anniversary of the Ningaloo Coast Getting Heritage Listed
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As industry circles, calls build to expand Ningaloo World Heritage Site
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A campaign for the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Site boundaries to expand to include Exmouth Gulf could not have come at a more dramatic time.
The Gulf, cupped by the North West Cape on which Exmouth town sits, is experiencing a COVID-19-sparked domestic tourism boom.
Heavy industry is circling it, the last non-industrialised coastal ecosystem of its region; and across the country, the United Nations heritage committee flagged the possible downgrading of Ningaloo’s east coast opposite, the Great Barrier Reef, due to its declining health in the face of climate change.