Monkey Mia is as far up the peninsula as you can go in a 2WD. It is where a unique interaction between humans and dolphins started many years ago when the dolphins helped out aboriginal fishermen by herding fish into the bay in return for being fed some of the fish.
This continues today but the dolphins are only fed a small amount so that they continue to fish normally. It does present an opportunity to see dolphins close up. Almost all that is known about dolphins has been learnt by studying the dolphins at Monkey Mia. The ranger knew the names of each dolphin, identified by the shape of its fin. Despite the hype, it was good to find that the dolphins were being allowed live their lives naturally and it is they who choose to come up to the beach, indeed some mornings they choose not to. This morning we were lucky.
In the afternoon we went on a cruise around the bay on the Shotover, looking for wildlife. We saw many more dolphins, a few turtles and a dugong. Dugongs are particularly numerous in the bay as there is plenty of sea grass for them to feed on.
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