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Published: December 5th 2007
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6am breakie - damn that alarm! But everyone is looking forward to seeing the dolphins so on we go.
We arrive just after 7am and the Dolphins are already there and waiting for us - it's amazing to think that these are all wild and choose to come here themselves - so much better than seeing them at a Zoo.
One of them has a young calf so we have to be careful as the mother is very protective - but the baby is so cute and cheeky!
The guides tell us a bit about them and explain that a couple of years ago they just used to sell buckets of fish to the tourists to feed the dolphins and they were free to touch them as they pleased. However as the Dolphins were then becoming lazy and not hunting for their food, plus being touched by thousands of people, they were becoming fat and diseased and all the young were dying.
They learned the hard way and now they only feed the dolphins a snack 3 times in a morning, then they can go off and hunt in the wild like they should be doing. The dolphins seem really happy
and friendly - more interested in us than we are in them i think!
The guide also explains that when a female is coming into season, often a group of 2 or 3 males will kidnap her and take her hostage in the sea. When she is in season they will breed with her before finally letting her go - this can be upto 2 or 3 weeks and they bully the female into staying with them so when she comes back she can have a few extra marks and cuts - how cruel! No wine and dining for these poor things.
After 10 minutes they go into the sea with the buckets and pick volunteers to help fed them - I was one of the lucky ones and got to fed a real wild dolphin - amazing.
On the beach they also had large pelicans that just waited around to try and get the fish, so some of the guides had to feed them also to distract them from interferring in the sea!
After the fantastic Dolphin experience we went to a place called Eagles Bluff - names so due to having an 'eagle eye's view'.
Then it was
onto the 'Ocean Park' wildlife centre, it has only been open a year so quite new really good.
We got to see baby sea turtles up close (don't put your hand in - they're nippy little blighters!), I also touched a poisonous sea snake (nice!). They also had a manta ray pond and the grand finale - the shark pool. They had a couple of different types of sharks including a Tiger Shark, apparently they keep it for a couple of weeks then when it starts to look distressed they release it back into the wild.
The one they had in the tank was ready to be released, as it was always at the top of the water it had sunburnt its fin - cruel to see really.
Back on the coach and we had a couple of hours drive upto the highlight of the tour - Nigaloo Reef.
On the way up we actually crossed the tropic of capricorn - I've touched a line on the map!
Our accommodation for the night was Coral Bay Backpackers - 10 bed dorms again and the receptionist was like a General - she told someone off for taking 2 pillow cases!
Tonight
we got the pleasure to share with the Swedish couple who by this time we learned weren't shy in stripping off in front of people, what a nice sight to see in the morning!
Dinner was provided by the hostel so whilst we were waiting we decided to go and see if we could catch the sunset. When we got there we had just missed it but was rewarded instead by seeing a wild young kangeroo hopping about in the bush next to us - hello joey!
Di was pleased as she kept missing seeing the kangeroo's on the coach drive - everytime we'd point one out to her through the bus window it had hopped away! But now she got to see one up close which was wicked.
Dinner was a hamburger with a fried egg on top - quite yummy actually.
Tomorrow is an activity day here in the reef, there are a couple of activities that you can choose to do like 4 wheel sand dune driving and manta ray diving, all the girlies are going to go Turtle Watching and Snorkelling - can't wait!
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