Off to See the Wizard - Shark Bay

After a blustery night, the morning was fairly calm.  We had an early start, travelling the 26kms to the other side of the peninsula to Monkey Mia.  This is the most famous spot in the area in recent times, where wild dolphins come in to be fed.

Back in the 1960s fisherman started sharing their catch with the local bottle nose dolphins.  Over the years, more dolphins came in to get fish.  This grew to such a level that some dolphins were over eating and also neglecting their calves.  As a result regulations were introduced in the mid 1990s to regulate the feeding, reducing the dependence on the food provided to them from the beach.

So this is how it works now…….

Each day there are three “Experiences” each morning, the first at about 8 o’clock.  The audience congregates on a boardwalk behind the beach.  A ranger gives a talk about the dolphins of the area.  There are about 3,000 in Shark Bay.  The dolphins are wild and therefore there is no guarantee how many, if any dolphins will come in.  This morning there were six.

After the talk, and once some dolphins were in the area, we are invited to go onto the Jetty.  Then we are invited to come down to the waters edge.  We decided to stay on the jetty, as we had a great view from there.

Shortly afterwards, everyone was asked to step back out of the water, which is the indication to the dolphins that their feeding is about to begin.  Previously, there were several dolphins that were fed.  This has now reduced to just two, as the others have passed away.  Their names are Piccolo and Kiya.  They are both in their twenties and are both currently pregnant.  Dolphins can live to fifty, and the average in the area is about forty.  If some others want to be fed, they my be recruited into the programme, but that is not a given.  It may be that in the future no dolphins are actually fed.  That is not such a bad thing.  It means that they are not relying on being fed by humans and are truly wild.

Dolphins eat about 30kg of fish each day.  They are only fed a maximum of 300g a day, being 10% of their daily intake.  That way they do not become dependent on the food and still have to forage and remain wild.  Also, as a result of COVID-19, there have been some changes.  Dolphins can contract respiratory diseased from humans and it is unknown if they can catch COVID, so no chances are being taken.  Therefore, no members of the public are able to feed the dolphins during the Experience, as they did before. On the day we were there, both Piccolo and Kiya came in, but only Kiya wanted some food.   Some days they just come in and hang around the bay. We enjoyed just seeing them around the area and were pleased that it was not a choreographed display.

After the dolphins had been fed we moved over to the resort for a delicious late breakfast.  Monkey Mia is not a town and the only buildings there are the dolphin research centre and a resort.

While we ate, we could see that the dolphins were still swimming about in the bay.  There were also a few pelicans on the beach.  Apparently, they hang around the dolphins, letting the dolphins herd the fish and then come in for their share without having to do the work.

They were very busy preening themselves.  They really are contortionists with their neck.

The old jetty looked pretty in the sunlight.

As we were leaving, we noticed a sculpture made out of the shell limestone I mentioned previously.  It was rather lovely.

On our way back to Denham, we called in at a couple of lookouts.  It was interesting to read about this little island.  One of the first industries in the area was the mining of guano.  This little island, and several others, had centuries of accumulation of bird droppings.  The islands were stripped bare of the guano, as it was a prized fertiliser.

Further along, we saw this sign.

Only in Australia….

Back in town, the wind had picked up, which suited this fellow just fine.

As we had another wander around we came across a restaurant, built in 1974 from the coquina rock, made from shells.  It kind of look like a church, but has always been a restaurant.

We saw an old pearl lugger outside the Information Centre the previous day, but there is also another historic lugger, the “Galli-Curci”, moored off the beach.  Apparently, Shark Bay had lots of pearl shell, which were dredged from the bay, were left to rot, then piled into “pogey pots” and boiled to extract the tiny seed pearls.  The town must have stunk.

We noticed that the flags outside the council chambers were all at half mast out of respect for the death of Queen Elizabeth II.  It was nice to see.

We had seen signs around town about not disturbing any emus you came across.  Well, as we walked back to the caravan park, there was one, right beside the beach.  Apparently, in hot weather, they will even go and sit in the water to cool down. Only in Australia…….

As the weather was a bit finer than the previous day, we were able to enjoy a sunset, but didn’t stay out for long as it was really cold, compared to what we have become accustomed to.

On top of all this, I read Maeve Binchy’s final novel, “A Week in Winter”, that I had found at a book exchange.  After nearly finishing it that night, I sat up in bed the following morning and had it finished by breakfast. A nice change from a murder mystery

The highlight of the day was the dolphins and the fact that it wasn’t staged trained animals.