23 July 2024
From our cozy site — with ocean glimpses (see image below) — in Denham, we set out quite early one morning to go to see the dolphins at Monkey Mia.
We got there for sunrise, which was definitely worth getting up early in the cold for, as you can see.
With sunrise at Monkey Mia “ticked”, we went to the relatively posh Monkey Mia Resort for breakfast. Breakfast started at 7:00am, which gave us time to eat and get ourselves in position for the first dolphin “experience” at 7:45am. If only they gave out a free coffee voucher for every time the rangers said the word “experience” during their talk to the crowd, I wouldn’t have had to buy another one until we got to Perth. See, you don’t just watch the dolphins getting fed (nobody from the public gets to feed them anymore), you get to experience them. And, the big rectangular area between the rope and the water that we had to stay behind until the dolphins arrived, is known as the DEA — no, not the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Dolphin Experience Area.
Due to (seemingly very) strict management regulations for the ongoing welfare of the dolphins, only five adult females are fed at Monkey Mia. For those interested (which I wasn’t), you can find the family tree for the dolphins of Monkey Mia here. I think we saw Piccolo (Daughter of Puck) and Piper (Daughter of Piccolo), amongst others. Sounds a little bit “Game of Thrones” when you write it like that …
Anyway, the rangers were giving us lots of quite interesting and useful information on the history of the dolphins feeding here while we waited for their big arrival. After around half an hour of this they took a break. An hour later, still no dolphins. People were getting agitated, especially Nicole and I with some hyperactive young boys next to us digging sand and knocking my tripod over. Grrrr.
The crowds started thinning out some, and then some more, and then even more, so that it was only the diehards left — Nicole and I included. We had moved on to the pier for a better view (avoiding the need to use the DEA) and got a great spot. After two hours, my fortitude caved in completely and I suggested to Nicole we check out the ‘merch’ in the shop.
“But we’ll lose our spot”, Nicole said.
“It’s really close by and we can get back here super quick if they arrive”, I replied. So, to the shop we went.
We entered the store, and around 30 seconds later I saw people pointing at the water and a lot of movement towards the DEA. The dolphins, who had been cunningly keeping an eye on Nicole and I, had gotten the last laugh and were triumphantly arriving, doing all sorts of flips and stuff on the way in just to show off and rub it in. While we didn’t get back to our prime position on the pier, we weren’t too far away. If only I’d kept the faith …
Anyway, we ended up having around ten dolphins visit for a feed (sorry, experience), which was actually really interesting to watch. 26 is the record number for a single experience, so we were well short of that mark.
I noticed the volunteer feeder closest to us had a face mask on, but I wasn’t listening well enough to understand why. Must be COVID-related.
On the way back to Denham, we visited the Thong Shack. It was a shack that got nearly blown away in a cyclone and, for some reason, visitors started nailing thongs to it. I didn’t try to understand why, I just took a photo. But we were in the middle of a glorious stretch of weather that really made the day out an enjoyable one. What an experience!
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