5 Jun 10 – Monkey Mia

By Craig: Although I was overall disappointed with Monkey Mia and the over the top control laid out by the parks personnel, I was certainly looking forward to seeing dolphins up close.
I wasn’t impressed by the attitude of some people who thought the best way to get a view was to push their way in front and when it came to be selected to feed the dolphins the ‘Pick me’ attitude was fierce.
It didn’t bother me personally as I was interested in photos but I did feel sorry for Sam who diligently stood on the control line but was overshadowed by the surrounding adults and missed getting the chance to hold a smelly fish and feed Flipper.

Sam got a chance to get a photo with a local celebrity and I snapped off a shot of his mates coming in to check out the fuss.
It was cold and had started raining so Lou decided to get coffees while I set up the computer and we all sat in the car and watched an episode of Dr Who.






By Lou: We had heard from a few people that they were disappointed with Monkey Mia, renowned for handfeeding of dolphins at the shoreline, but felt we had to see it and make our own judgement. The park ranger had told us the best time to see the dolphins at the moment was 8am so we left camp at 6:30am in the dark. I have mixed feelings about the experience. I did enjoy seeing them up close and the rangers know them so well they can identify individuals and know exactly how old they are (because the mums bring the calves in immediately after they’re born). However it was the behaviour of the crowd which most intrigued me. Initially we all had to stand away from the shoreline until we got the green light from the rangers to approach.
Although a pelican got away with jumping the gun, there were several individuals who strayed. One such woman dobbed in the next one under the guise "I was just doing the right thing". As I have found on many occasions where groups gather for a particular spectacle, many leave their brains and manners in the car. Ironically this is why rules are made, because it seems sense in't that common after all.

We have enjoyed several sightings of dolphins in our travels along the coast, even at close-ish range, and found it far more spectacular watching them in their wild and natural state.