OUR MISSION Shark Bay’s Big 5 – Sharks, Rays, Turtles, Dolphins and Dugongs

After Hamelin Bay we made our way to Denham.  With the wind blowing night and day we again opted for more substantial accommodation staying in a two bedroom unit in Denham just across from the beach.  I am sure in other conditions the beach would look very inviting for a swim, but for us it was just too windy so we opted for a walk instead.  However, the wind had blown quite a bit of froth onto the sand – kids, water, froth, you can guess what happened next:

Ocean Park Aquarium

We were hesitant about going to yet another aquarium, but the opportunity to learn more about this world heritage area proved too strong and so off we went.  So glad we did.  This is an excellent aquarium different from all our previous experiences.  The fish/sea creatures are all in different tanks and there is a continuous guided tour from tank to tank.  You arrive and join at one tank and then leave when it gets back there again, oh the guides also get to swap, one doesn’t have to go all day.  The guides were extremely knowledgeable, especially about shark bay and the kids were totally engaged for the whole time.  In fact we might have gone past our starting tank and done several again.  

The tanks and aquariums mean that you can get a really good view close to many of the fish.

You can see where shark bay gets its name at moments like this.

The locals might look friendly but don't let that deceive you - these guys are deadly!

 Eagle and Goulet Bluffs – Turtles, Sharks and Rays

We left the aquarium and went off to track down Shark Bay’s Big Five – Rays (the rays here are LARGE being Manta and Eagle Rays), Sharks, Turtles, Dophins and Dugongs.  We started with Eagle and Goulet Bluffs where we were told sharks, rays and turtles can be easily seen from the viewing points.  We didn’t expect to see many maybe a sighting or two if we were lucky, but the view from these bluffs is gorgeous without any sea creatures.

 

But the word on the street was true you can see turtles, rays and sharks, and I use the plural of these advisedly – we saw lots (although the whole time in shark bay wild turtles avoided my camera like the plague).

So far so good – our first outing and we had 3 of the Big 5.

 

Shell Beach

How many beaches called Shell or Shelly are there around Australia – most of you would know at least one.  Well not surprisingly there is one in shark bay, but having seen a few Shell Beaches in my time, I am thinking this one might actually deserve that name more than the others.  The same salty waters that allow the Stromatolites to grow in Hamelin Bay also support the Coquina Shells.  These are tiny white shells and literally trillions of their shells have accumulated up to 10 metres deep and 1 km wide running 120 km. The numbers of shells makes for a shallow beach that eventually gives way to the beautiful blues and turquoises of shark bay.  In the shallow of the beach we found shovel nose rays swimming almost up to our feet – hmmm finding shark bay very hard to take so far.

Francoise Peron National Park and a thong or two

North of Denham lies the Francoise Peron National Park.  Formerly a working station which was bought by the government in 1990 because of its wildlife and landscapes and turned into a national park.  We had originally intended to drive up to some of the lagoons and swim/snorkel, but the day dawned cool, cloudy and as usual stupidly windy.  So instead we walked around a little lagoon (apparently complete with stone fish – we didn’t go looking for these) and then explored the Heritage Precinct which includes the remains of the working station and an amazingly warm hot tub.  For us so far shark bay had been about the wild landscapes, incredible turquoise and blue waters and stunning beaches.  It was a good change to take the boys through the homestead, shearing shed and shearing quarters.  They have even left furniture in there so we could really appreciate what it would have been like come shearing time at old station.  

The national park is running lots of programs to rehabilitate the land and increase the native fauna.  Unfortunately we didn’t see a thorny devil, but did seea decent sized lizard.  After our explore of the grounds the boys decided they had to have a swim in the hot tub – even on a cooler day it was a bit too hot for David and I so we chickened out.

We finished the day with a drive to the beach opposite Denham only to find the Thong Shack.  I did some research and could not find out why it is there, but it is fun.

The thong shack beach

Monkey Mia – Dolphins, Dugongs and a pearl or two

Ahhh perfection and no wind!!!!! shame we had to dash off to Kalbarri

Monkey Mia – the name is synonomous with dolphins.  Here you can stand with crowds of people and vie to be one of the select few that feed the dolphins.  Limiting the numbers who can feed the dolphins is all about protecting them and I understand that – but even in the quiet time there were quite a few people here.  Even in Mr L’s favorite book Are We There Yet – the Dad states that Monkey Mia is “too crowded” and I agree.  Also there was a documentary maker filming the dolphins (it might be called Dolphin Dynasties and could be released next year) who posed the question, if it damages the animals why do humans allow this type of interaction.  I don’t know the answer to that question, I do now know it opposed the Australia Zoo/Steve Irwin approach which is if you have personally made a connection with an animal you are more likely to fight for its survival.  Regardless, the boys were not selected to feed the dolphins, but we had crossed one creature more off our big 5 list.

Having done them both we prefer the dolphin feeding at Tin Can Bay in southern Queensland, not nearly so well known but quieter and there anyone who wants to can feed a fish to a dophin.

After a quick bite at the resort at Monkey Mia we headed to our real destination for the day – a boat cruise of shark bay and hopefully the final member of our big 5, a dugong.  We loved this trip, the boat was lovely, the crew great, the sky blue, just enough fluffy clouds were around to make my photos more interesting.  Our first destination was a pearl factory (which was a bit ironic as we had missed doing this in Broome).  Even this part of the cruise was interesting and informative and unfortunately the produce (which was from black lipped oysters, not the pacific ones up north) was completely beyond our budget.

After the pearl factory we set off for the real prize and at our first grass bed we saw our first dugong – actually two.  We were very lucky to view a pair probably involved in mating.  We then had a delightful hour or so spotting dophins, sea birds, dugongs and really large loggerhead turtles (still staying away from my camera).

On the way home the boat lets out a boom net and our intrepid adventurers were the first with their hands up to give it a try (actually they had been sitting at the back of the boat asking when the boom net would come out having seen the pictures on the brochure). 

On returning to Monkey Mia we could have easily stayed the rest of the day on that amazing beach which for the only time during our stay at shark bay was sunny and wind free.  But unfortunately we had accommodation booked in Kalbarri and a long drive ahead of us.  However, the boys would be very annoyed if I didn’t conclude this blog with this statement :

SHARK BAY BIG 5 MISSION ACCOMMPLISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!