Getting into some semblance of rhythm here. You can never be fully settled because our days depend totally on weather. There are no weekends…only days we go out & days we don’t. Today was the latter. Too windy.
On non-boat days I’ve gone on two ~10 km walks out to Red Bluff near Monkey Mia. Got to get some energy out on the windy days. Looking at fin pics and entering data makes you loopy after about 5 straight hours. Seen emus, wallabies, zebra finches (they don’t just live in pet stores) and all sorts of other creatures. No thorny devils, echidnas, or bilby just yet. Red bluff is appropriately named after the burnt burgundy coloured earth. That’s not a good colour description. You kind of have to see it. Where outback meets the ocean.
Yesterday was only a half day but we saw about 30 animals and got in 9 surveys in a couple of hours. Saw consortships, herding, leaping, ‘shitkicking’ (a.k.a. intense socializing), a tiff (head to head argument of sorts between 2 dolphins), and too many other behaviours to name. A turtle popped up to say hello at one point.
Speaking of turtles…there’s other wildlife here too. Green, Loggerhead, Hawksbill, & the occasional Leatherback turtles, sharks, rays, shovel-nose rays, dugongs (manatee relatives), sea snakes, sea birds…haven’t seen everything yet needless to say. As it warms up a little more will come back into the bay.
I had an experience out on the boat worth describing. I was looking through my binoculars…no dolphins…no dolphins…scan, scan, scan…no dolphins...more ocean…argh! Then, a moment of clarity. I’m in Australia. Studying dolphins. Dolphins who do things no other populations have been recorded doing on the same scale. Frustration? Went away pretty rapidly. Wide grin formed on my sun-kissed face.
June 24
Yet another great day. We did a big loop southeast of Monkey Mia and then all the way north and west almost to ‘Guich’ (Guichenault Pt.). Went over and around the Abbott & Costellian named banks just off the coast (a joke that happened to stick). First you come up to ‘Which Bank’…then over ‘This Bank’, which comes before ‘That Bank’. After ‘That Bank’ you get to ‘The Other Bank’. South of there is ‘What Bank’. Past ‘The Other Bank’ and through the ‘ether’ you sometimes (but not always) find the mysterious ‘Yonder Bank’. You get the hang of it after awhile.
In one of the adjacent channels we met up with Spongemom, the original sponging female (the first sponging mother studied, not the first ever). This behaviour, seen mostly in females and their calves but also some males, involves dolphins placing a marine sponge on their rostrum to probe along the sandy bottom stirring up food. Evidently, tool use doesn’t require hands. Spongemom had a particularly spectacular sponge today. Perfectly symmetrical, hollow, ball-shaped poriferan. We got some unbelievable photos in the clear water. Her eye gazing up at these strange bipeds riding on a clumsy metal bucket. At roughly 40 years of age she’s seen a lot.
Came in at sunset as per usual. Vivid is the best term for describing Shark Bay. The sky is a rainbow. Blues and purples with a dash of pink up ahead. Reds, oranges, and yellows behind. The burnt red cliffs flank the right. An earthy smell blows over the water from the southwest. It is difficult to wrap my senses around.
June 27
Well the last few days have been a bit different. We came in an hour early two days ago after getting a call from the ranger station about a dead dolphin washed up on shore near Monkey Mia. We rushed in to discover that ‘Bly’, a ~35 year-old male, had succumbed to something and lay in the sandy shallows. We had been surveying his buddies in ‘Hook’s Crew’ when we got the call. We were wondering where Bly was…His body was sent to Perth for measurements and analysis. His spotting on his chest and pecs (they get more speckled with age) and his worn teeth suggest he lived a long life.
The next day (26th) we had great weather and headed northward over the glass. We hadn’t been that far north yet so it was exciting to look for groups we hadn’t seen before. Nine hours later and my head was full of 50 new fins. One group, which we still haven’t fully worked out, was full of ‘Dead Rockers’ and ‘Queens’. These male groups have only 2 or 3 observations over the years. They likely live most of their lives further out than we often go. The ‘Dead Rockers’ include Garcia, Zandt, Hendrix, and my personal favourite Allman (after Greg not Esther…). Just more fins to add (hopefully) to the memory bank.
Well that should do it for now. More riveting dolphin soap operas to come. I still have two months left here. It’s amazing how much I’ve seen already in only a few short weeks. This has to be one of the most spectacular places on earth. Everyday I have moments where I realize the grandeur of Shark Bay. Just trying to take it all in.
