Calling the Dolphins:
It seems the closer I get to Perth the further behind I get.
The plan – stop at Hamelin Pool to see the stromatolites, a quick trip to Monkey Mia then back to somewhere near Hamelin Pool for the night.
That was the plan. . .
Pulled in to Hamelin Pool for breakfast and there were Graziella and Guey from Ningaloo. Breakfast took longer – then we went out to look at the stromatolites, then I had to work on rescheduling my plane ticket – then it was 1:30pm.
I quite enjoyed the stromatolite walk. The path went through the quarry where blocks of cemented shells had been cut out to build the original buildings in the area – now only quarried when needed for restoration work. The shell layers are as deep as 10 metres in places around Shark Bay. The person who created the interpretive panels had quite a sense of humor. I’m having a hard time with the little microbial mounds being remnants of a time 3,600 million years ago. Regardless – the patterns in the water were striking.
Next stop was Shell Beach – a beach composed entirely of small Cockle shells. The shells kept slipping between my shoe and foot. It hurt. I tried with out the thong and it was even more uncomfortable. The cockles reproduce very quickly here – without a scientific explanation – resulting in beaches of shells.
What really amazed me at the beach though was the evidence of “Project Eden.”
Australia has a problem with introduced animals that have gone feral. Rabbits, goats, cats, foxes, and dogs which were purposefully or accidentally introduced in Australia. Unfortunately these exotics have threatened and pushed to near extinctions many species of Australia’s endemic wildlife.
Project Eden is attempting to remove all the exotics and allow native species the opportunity to reestablish themselves or to even be reintroduced once the harmful animals have been removed. To protect the northern end of the peninsula CALM has built a 2 metre tall electric fence which prevents the movement north of the pest animals. Inside the exclusion zone there is an active program to remove the exotic species – I saw a rabbit inside the safe zone at Shell Beach and cats near Denham but apparently it has been quite successful once getting away from developed areas. The fence bisects Shell Beach and extends several hundred metres into the bay. The project has been successful in reducing the number of exotic nuisances and threatened species are doing much better within the Eden area.
I’d been warned that Useless Loop was really not worthwhile so I skipped on past but did stop at Whalebone Beach – just short jaunt off the main road.
Next stop was Little Lagoon. It really isn’t much of a place but it is magical. That doesn’t make any sense at all but it is worth a visit. Sit by the waters edge and listen to it lap the shore. Sit under one of the covered picnic shelters. Wade in the shallows. I waded out a couple hundred metres before it was deep enough to swim. The bottom is silty but wonderful sand. It billows up around your feet so you can’t watch for the Stone Fish which also use the area – bad news if you step on one – but the silt billows up with sparkles all through it – mica if I were at home. I stopped here twice. Watch for stone finish – they are bad news if stuck underfoot.
Then it was Fancis Peron Park. The park roads are primarily 4WD but the first couple kilometers to the homestead is good 2WD road. I had to explore. I arrived at the homestead just before sunset. Two volunteers were there as caretakers. I quickly walked through the barns, mess room, shearer’s quarters and shearing sheds. The windmills caught the evens last light as they pulled water from the boreholes. What really captured my fancy was the artesian hot tub. The water comes out of the ground at 30 + degrees C.
Darkness was slowly overtaking the landscape so I slowly made my way the final few kilomtres to Monkey Mia to spend the night in the Caravan Park. The facilities were near the best I had seen while wandering about. It was my first official shower in several days again. I am starting to hit crisis points in finding clothes so was looking forward to doing my laundry. The borehole water had the odor of cologne gone bad and tasted quite salty – bring your own drinking water or buy there. I was surprised by the prices at the end of the road. Many things were less expensive then I had seen at many places along the road. After reading the warnings about the water changing the color of clothes I skipped laundry night. Instead I meandered through the resort. There is a nightly presentation about marine research given by graduate students working on local projects. I was lucky to discover this just as it started. Only eight people were in attendance. Topic: Sea Turtles giving a quick introduction to marine turtles worldwide then more detail on the two local species.
In the morning I rose as I have been – with the sun. Without the hills to the east – referring to my week at Ningaloo Reef – the sun peeking over the horizon about 10 minutes earlier now – 6:54 this morning. A few minutes past seven I walked down to the beach – a small crowd already gathering on the pier looking out to sea for the dolphins. I stood on the steps of the path down to the beach – just taking it in. While standing there I noticed a couple fins slowly making along the shore. After what seemed like a few minutes somebody from the beach said, “There’s the dolphins.”
In unison those on the pier turned shoreward, then nearly everybody walked off the pier and down to the beach – wading into the water to be greeted by the dolphins – eager for their morning feed.
I chose to stay on the dock to watch. The dolphins swam back and forth looking at the crowd, rubbing against their legs and searching for the food bucket – yes the dolphins are fed. Early on anybody who came to Monkey Mia could feed the dolphins as much as they desired – just walk up the fish stand and buy a bucket of fish. This took its toll on the dolphins with the dolphins losing some of their natural instinct to feed naturally. The whole feeding ritual began about 30 years ago when a lady started feeding dolphins off the back of her boat. Eventually it became a tourist attraction. Now instead of a rough dirt track 130 kilometres to the remote location there is a paved road with people speeding across the desert at more then 120 km/h – missing many of the sites along the way just to see the dolphins.
Oh, yes the dolphins. A couple dolphins spent time at the beach but the other six were frolicking about. One would disappear into the bay then come bounding back in – one leap, then another . . .
Eventually it was feeding time. Everybody and yes this means everybody must move back to the shore – completely out of the water. As if choreographed, the first volunteer feeder walked out with the yellow bucket. Her duty – distract the pelicans up onto the beach and away from the dolphins. A single pelican preferred to swim with the dolphins. Unfortunately for the participants – human and dolphin – this meant no food for the dolphins.
The pelican feeder was called to help. She brought her bucket towards the shore – accompanied by 10 pelicans. The swimming pelican saw the bucket. Without warning it bolted for the shore – straight into the crowd of people. A few screams followed by laughter and the crowd parted. The pelican joined the crowd and was led up the beach.
Now the five volunteer feeders walked in formation down to the beach carrying their silver buckets. They took their place in the water. Almost unnoticeable the dolphins spread out 1 for each bucket.
Now the moment everybody waited for – the feeding. The suspense was audible – whom from the crowd would be chosen to hand feed a dolphin? Each feeder selected people, one at a time, from the crowd. Between 5 and 10 people were randomly selected to feed the dolphins. Children, disabled, teenagers and grandparents alike were selected.
One by one the feeder’s hands went up. One fish left. Once each bucket held only one fish – to prevent squabbles – each dolphin at the same time was given the last fish in the bucket. The volunteers dipped their buckets into the water and poured it in front of the dolphins. In a synchronous move the dolphins turned and swam back into the bay.
The feedings occur three times or no later the 1:00pm. A diary is kept for each dolphin. The dolphins are given no more then 2 kilograms of fish each day – less if they don’t arrive for the feeding. Providing only a small amount of fish ensures the dolphins continue to forage on their own as well as teaching their calves how to hunt fish. Only five female dolphins are fed at a time. The young are not fed.
Monkey Mia provides a full range of accommodation in a very nice setting as well as restaurant, digital photo printing, limited food selection, dive and snorkel shop, massage, and a variety of water craft for hire. There are also several cruises into Shark Bay offered daily, camel rides and aboriginal cultural experiences.
Leaving Shark Bay, Monkey Mia and Denham I stopped at Eagle Bluff. From about 100 metres above I watched sharks, rays, schools of fish and a variety of water birds. The water was so still that even the clouds left a reflection on the surface.
It was time to move on. I’m already a two weeks slower in returning to Perth then expected. I had to call Traveler’s Auto Barn again to plead for another few days with the car. Fortunately they obliged and I will now arrive in Perth on Friday.
