From afar, it looks just like another one of those beaches you’ve grown to like, here in Western Australia. Wide. Deserted. Just a long stretch of sand fading into aqua blue water under a vault of blue sky. It’s only at a closer look that you notice something is different. The sand – is not sand at all. You are looking at shells. Billions and billions of small white shells as far as the eye can see. They go for miles, and up to 10 meters below your feet, shimmering in the sun like snow crystals. It’s odd. It’s beautiful. It’s nature’s fascinating – untouched – balance of things.

14 October 2010 – Shell Beach, Shark Bay, Western Australia.