For almost 30 years, 3 generations of wild bottle-nosed dolphins have made a daily ritual of visiting a remote beach at a small settlement called 'Monkey Mia', 850 kilometres north of Perth. This beach is located in what is now known as the Shark Bay World Heritage region, an area recognised for its unique marine environment and is home to some of the world's near extinct or endangered marine life, including over 10,000 Dugong, the most secure colony of these large air breathing mammals left on earth. Each morning between 7.00am and mid-day, small groups of dolphins, all well-known and identified by their distinctive dorsel fin markings, visit the beach to interact with visitors who can walk amongst the dolphins in the shallows and feed them under the supervision of full-time national park rangers. The feeding of the Monkey Mia dolphins is very strictly controlled - only freshly caught local fish are fed to the animals and never more than one-third of each dolphin's daily food requirement is offered at the beach. This is to ensure that the animals do not become dependant on human handouts. A separate section of the beach is set aside where visitors can swim with the dolphins and observe their antics and family interactions. Monkey Mia is one of the most important dolphin research centres in the world, the clear shallow waters of the bay makes it easy to observe the animals in their natural environment. Since 1984, over a dozen scientist from Australia, North America and Europe have been involved in the Dolphins of Monkey Mia research project. Scientists study the dolphins who visit the beach, but most of the research focus is on the off-shore population of over 400 animals, with particular emphasis on the 100 plus dolphins who frequent the Monkey Mia bay area. Researchers investigate different aspects of dolphin ecology, reproduction and behaviour, including male relationships, mother-calf relationships and development, juvenile social development, ranging patterns, community structure, geological relationships, habitat and diet. A catalogue of fin pictures is kept, and this helps identify each animal, many of whom have developed amazing interaction with visitors. For example, dolphins are drawn to heavily pregnant women when they visit the beach. Because of the high concentrations of fish life on the bay area, the dolphins quite often offer visitors fresh fish which they themselves have caught. Another aspect of the Monkey Mia dolphins life is sponge carrying. Many of the dolphins seem to have developed a technique of carrying a sponge on their beak, this is thought to be used as a tool for fossicking amongst the sea grass beds for food. It is important to remember that Monkey Mia's dolphins are wild animals and must support themselves in a marine environment that can be hostile and dangerous. The young calves at Monkey Mia must learn natural behaviour from their mother and obvious to ensure that they know how to survive in the wild. Too much feeding and long periods at the beach significantly reduce these vital learning lessons. At Monkey Mia a feeding strategy is being developed which allows human contact with the dolphins while ensuring that the dolphins do not become dependant upon hand-out's or stressed by human interaction. Very strict controls apply to the feeding of dolphins within the Monkey Mia area, it is illegal to feed dolphins unless under ranger supervision. DUGONGS 
Many visitors to Shark Bay are aware of the area's significance as a dugong habitat. The dugong is one of two surviving sirenians, or sea cows, the other is the manatee found in areas of the Carribean, Amazon and West Africa. The dugong spends much of its time grazing on the soft and delicate sea grasses of the Shark Bay World Heritage area. The animals can live up to 70 years and grow about 3.3 metres and weigh up to 400kg. Females do not calf until they are at least 10 years old, they bear a single calf every 3 to 7 years after a gestation of 13 months. Mothers are attentive and care for their young for up to 2 years and communicate with them through bird-like chirps and high pitched squeaks and squeals. Calves never venture far from their mothers and frequently ride on their back, particularly when danger threatens. At Monkey Mia there is one of the world's only reliable dugong watching cruises, where visitors travel aboard a specially equipped sailing catamaran and are able to get close to dugongs in the wild. This cruise operates every day from the Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort jetty. Email us if you would like a set of Shark Bay world Heritage notes, which detail why Shark Bay was one of only 11 places in the world to satisfy all natural criteria for inclusion on the exclusive united nations list of World Heritage properties.
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