where are the gores: Denham doings (part 2)

The Bottle Nosed dolphins have been visiting the Monkey Mia beach for more than 30 years and the story goes that it all began in 1964 when a lady began hand feeding a dolphin from her boat. It did not take long for the dolphin community to catch on to this easy feed. Up until a few years ago anyone and everyone could feed and swim with the dolphins. These days they are heavily protected by DEC ( the Department of Environment and Conservation). During the feeding times they are only given a very small proportion of their daily requirements as the aim is to ensure that the dolphins retain their hunting and survival skills. They say a lucky few get picked to feed the dolphins and there is a fair bit of excitement in the back seat of the car, particularly by Timna.

Though they are not able to touch the dolphins, the rangers keep a rather extensive and ongoing study of the animals. They do not interfere with the animals, but record any new markings or wounds that might have occurred and have an established method of recognising the dolphins, most often by the shape of their fin.

All waiting excitedly for the arrival of the dolphins. There are a lot of rules to follow, and you can start to feel that it is all a little too planned. However, when they finally arrive you cannot help but be awestruck by these rather gorgeous mammals. The rangers really do a great job in educating the crowd but, we must add, we are pretty pleased we are here out of season. We cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like sharing this with hundreds of people!!!

There were to be no disappointments, the kids were picked to feed a very cute dolphin called Surprise. Both the dolphin and Timna had the biggest smiles on their faces. We were to learn that the beautiful smiley face of the dolphin is not a sign of their current emotion, but rather their one and only fixed expression.

Another yummy cool drink as we pass the time waiting for our next adventure. A catamaran cruise on Shark Bay to hopefully see the other mammal that is associated with Shark Bay, the dugong.

Our chariot awaits.

Linda getting her five minutes of fame as assitant deck hand. She was lucky to be picked to help wind up the secondary sail

The dugong. Today we had to take the good with the bad, our day was overcast, protecting us from the potential heat, but this reduced the visibility in the water. However, due to the complete stillness of the day we were able to hear the dugong take its big breath before you could see it. The dugong must come to the surface for a breath every few minutes after grazing on the seagrass below.

We did not take a ride on these camels, but they certainly make an awesome picture. Thought we were back in Broome for a moment!!

As a bonus the cruise offered a sunset cruise for $10, so Linda, Timna and Benji go whilst Robbie and Boaz decide to stay back in Denham to fish for dinner. The sail this evening is less about the marine life and all about the feel of being on the water. On the way out with one sail up we cruise at a steady 5 knots. On the way back they told the kids to prepare for a bit more excitement.