Monkey Mia

Monkey Mia Talk
Originally uploaded by .PT.

After a short drive across the Peron Peninsula we make our way down to the beach and the world famous Monkey Mia dolphins. It was 7.30am when we got there so a pretty early start that day.

Monkey Mia is in the Shark Bay World Heritage Area and is the world’s best and most reliable meeting place for wild Bottlenose Dolphins.

The dolphins have been coming in to shore here for 30 years and are now part of scientific research.

The dolphins are wild and come and go as they please. They are not reliant upon humans for their complete diet. At the beach they are fed up to three times per day and only under the strict guidance of C.A.L.M. (Conservation and Land Management) officers. Members of the public used to be able just to turn up and feed the dolphins when and whenever they liked. However, many of the dolphins became ill and died and this was attributed to their contact with humans (dolphins have a protective mucus covering them and when people touch them this runs off and leave them open to getting diseses). So you can touch them anymore.

So we rocked up there at 7.30am and the dolphins came in straight away! It was really cool! There were about 10 of them and 2 baby ones! They were just swimming around in front of us as we stood in about a foot of water! It was wicked! They were really relaxed and just swimming about having a good look at everybody!

The scientists talk to the crowd about them for around 15 mins as the dolphins just swim around. Then they feed them some fish! Its real cool! As soon as all the fish are gone the dolphhins swim off, its really funny! The dolphins are definetely in charge!