During World War II, Parmelia Bank was the location of the anti-submarine boom net protecting the northern access to Cockburn Sound.

From Woodman Point, the barrier ran west on top of the bank, stretching to Carnac Island.

A dredged channel, the location of a gate in the barrier, let through the sandbank into Cockburn Sound.

From this channel, the barrier ran south-west to Garden Island.

[2] The Success and Parmelia Banks were formed during the Holocene, more than 10,000 years ago, through the deposition of sediment which had been eroded from the Rottnest Shelf and the Garden Island Ridge.