A beautiful sunrise this morning. The Scott’s were staying at Fowlers Camp and got to enjoy it in it’s full glory.

We left the caravan at Denham and headed out to Monkey Mia at around 9. Almost everyone would be aware that this place is well known for the ‘dolphin feeding’ over the last 50-60 years. Times have changed, and it’s more about observing wildlife in the natural environment these days. The feeding does still happen, however, rather than the masses of dolphins that came to the bay in past years, there are now only 2 female dolphins that may be fed, and even they can only be fed up to 10% of their daily intake. Unfortunately, over 90% of the dolphin calves that were hand fed fish in the 1980’s did not reach adulthood compared to 10% not making it in a natural environment. It’s easy to see that this will die out in the future. A good outcome I think.

The 8 of us boarded our cruise and we immediately headed to a large Osprey nest on the old pearling hut in the bay. The nest has survived cyclones and currently has both parents and two chicks living in it.

The bay dolphins are much like the dolphins we are used to at home. Social, and happy to bow ride the wave of the boat. There were all sorts of interactions going on as we watched on.

Then we moved further out to start looking for dugongs. Our boat is the only one in Australia licensed to approach the creatures at low speed. They do not feel threatened and if they did they can swim at 40km/hr to leave if necessary. We spent a wonderful hour or so tailing a mother and calf on the surface. Hard to get photos, but great to see.

We moved back in towards shore and were lucky enough to find a more wild variety of dolphin in their natural environment. These dolphins are unique in the world – the only dolphins that use tools to assist with feeding. There are only 20 in Monkey Mia and the skill is passed from mother to daughter. Sea sponges are used to form a cone over the dolphin snout which allows them to forage for fish in the rocks and reefs without injuring themselves. A truly amazing thing to see!

Before we headed back to shore, those interested were given the opportunity to do some boom netting. Of course Karen was up for it and enjoyed the pummelling 🙂 .

Mel and I felt a bit twinnish today with our camera gear and hats! Turns out my exclusive Ningaloo turtle hat is exactly the same as the Lake Macquarie turtle hat that Mel had…..

Once on shore Bob and I hot footed it to the car as I had a hair cut booked in Denham and we were running late. On the way there we did have to slow for a dad and chick emu pair that really needed to cross the road.

This afternoon, Bob and I have abandoned our Fowlers Camp booking as we can’t meet the requirement to be fully self contained with our broken composting toilet. The Scott’s are there tonight (and have enjoyed some kayaking) while the rest of us have started our march towards Kalbarri. A free camp tonight before finishing the trip tomorrow. My achievement this afternoon has been a crocheted potted vine that I’m going to have to find somewhere to stash. Next project is knitted cotton dishcloths. Stay tuned 🙂 .