The first fairy circles documented in Australia

When Stephan Getzin, an ecologist at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany, opened the email, his heart began to flutter. Attached was an aerial image of fairy circles, just as he had seen in countless photos before. But those images were always taken along long strips of arid grassland stretching from southern Angola to northern South Africa.

These fairy circles — which looked nearly identical — came from Australia, not Africa.

“I was really astonished,” Dr. Getzin said. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

The emailed photo came from Bronwyn Bell, who does environmental restoration work in Perth. She had read about Dr. Getzin’s research in Namibia and made a connection to the odd formations in her home state, Western Australia.

Until that point, Australian circles were completely unknown to science. “Not even the Australians were aware of their jewel,” Dr. Getzin said.

