The ranger gives a talk about the dolphins explaining how it started, the different families, how they can identify individual dolphins by their fins (each one is different just like fingerprints) and much more. As she is talking she walks up and down the line of people and some of the dolphins follow her up and down so you get a really close look. She explained how they only do three interactions a day between 7:30am and 12noon and only if the dolphins decide to come in. The are only fed 500gms of fish at each feed as they don't want them to stop feeding naturally.
The dolphins coming in
A bit closer
Real close
Next they bring out the buckets of fish, one ranger to one bucket and each bucket has the dolphins name on it so they know how much they have had. Somehow they end up in a row with the right dolphin beside them. Before they do this they are in communication with the other rangers to tell them which dolphins have turned up. Then each ranger calls someone out of the crowd to come out and feed a fish to the dolphin. Unfortunately neither Peter nor I were selected but it was still fun just watching. When the rangers are down to the last fish they put their hand up. Then they all feed the last fish at the same time and then rinse the buckets out so the dolphins know there is no more fish. It is amazing to see that as soon as they do this, the dolphins swim away.
A ranger with the dolphins
Lined up waiting for someone to give the first fish
After that we went on the jetty and then went to the cafe for a coffee. After checking out the shop I went for a snorkel and a swim, it was so lovely and the water was so clear. Then we noticed that the dolphins were back again so as there was less people, I hoped I might be lucky enough to get to feed one this time. Sadly no, but we did see one of the dolphins do 5 consecutive jumps out of the water, it was amazing. They were in a playful mood this time and were splashing around and having fun.
Looking back from the jetty
While we were relaxing on the lawns, four emus came up and the man came out of the booking shop with a rake and knocked off the little black things (seeds?) off a couple of palm trees. The emus quickly started eating them one by one. There was also a bucket of water there and a couple of the emus got down on their knees to drink from the bucket. After they had their fill, they quietly walked off. There were a lot of overseas tourists their so they were madly taking photos.
The emus (that's my head at the back)
We had a look at the displays and information and then headed back to Denham. It only takes 20 minutes to get to Monkey Mia. On the way back there was a car in front of us with a trailer with two camels sitting in the trailer. It looked so funny. The camels do rides at Monkey Mia and they must have finished for the day. We also had to stop for some emus that were standing in the middle of the road.
The camels going for a drive
The emus in the middle of the road
After lunch, Peter and I had another walk around town, an ice cream at the cafe and then watched a man cleaning a boat on the dry dock.
Tomorrow we are heading for Carnarvon.
cheers
Pete and Roz
What you did not have a camel ride. Most fun is when they stand up and sit down. Better than a roller coaster! Love emus but they are scarey, they will steal your sausages off the bbq at Tidbinbilla :)
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