Zuytdorp Cliffs, Western Australia

Stretching for more than 150km along the West coast of Australia are the treacherous and unforgiving Zuytdorp Cliffs. Reaching up to nearly 250m (~820 feet) at their peak, the nearshore area is a world renown naval hazard. The the location of the image, the cliff height is a mere 95m (~315 feet).

Named after a Dutch trading ship which sunk near this location in 1712, the cliff face offers little hope of survival if a ship is blown into the wall or if navigation goes astray.

The section is formed of Pleistocene age limestone. To be even more specific, it is cemented aeolian dunes. Yes, calcarenite dunes. The calcareous debris undergoes extremely rapid lithification. The image at the bottom of this column shows a *very* solid lithified beach berm on the shoreline of Shark bay.

Large recent beach burm deposit running subparallel to the shoreline in Shark Bay. Crest to trough is approximately 1 meter. Structure is likely storm formed.

Why we were there

This image was taken on the same trip as the Stromatolites. After driving North to the Shark Bay World Heritage Site, and dropping off our bags at the Monkey Mia resort to the West of Denham, we were headed back to the Denham town-site to have a look around. As we passed the rural airport, we saw a sign for scenic flights and decided to take one. 

​As luck would have it, they had a passenger and some gear to take out to Dirk Hartog Island, that little nubbin sticking out as a point on the very Western-most edge of the Australian mainland.

We boarded the small Cessna and after doing a quick overflight of Denham, we headed out over Shark bay scanning the water below for sharks. 

​After passing over the indusrty town of Useless Loop (great name), we headed out over the ocean and paralleled the Zuytdorp Cliffs were we were able to capture many memorable images.

We at Haskett Consulting International have been fortunate to have had our work take us to more places of cultural and heritage value in Australia than most Australians ever have the opportunity to visit. From Darwin to Melbourne, Barrow Island to Sydney, and from Cairns to Perth, we have been providing strategy, evaluation, operational efficiency, cost and schedule, project risk management, organizational development, and many, many training workshops since 2001.

Australia has a wealth of resources and we are proud to help create more jobs for Australians. We greatly appreciate our numerous Australian clients.

The evaporite industry town of Useless Loop