Shell bricks
Tiny white shells from the fragum cockle
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Details
The still and hypersaline waters of Shark Bay’s Shell Beach provide just the right environment for these tiny white shells from the fragum cockle to thrive. Trillions of these tiny shells line the beach here in deposits up to 10 metres deep. Back in the early 1900s Shark Bay residents would come to the beach to cut out heavily compacted shell bricks to build houses in nearby Denham. While most of these buildings no longer stand, you can still see examples in Denham’s Anglican Church and Old Pearler Restaurant today.