Western Australia, Part 2: Shark Bay--Dolphins, Pearls, Pelicans and More

Pelican at Monkey Mia, Shark Bay

Recently, I was cleaning out and found my diary from our trip to Australia in 2007, when we toured the west coast with our friend Mike in his camper van, traveling from Augusta to Shark Bay and back to Perth. As I read through the entries I was reminded of the uniqueness of that landscape–different from anything else we had seen in Australia. Here is the second installment of some highlights from the trip.

Dolphin at Monkey Mia

Shark Bay, located about 500 miles north of Perth on the westernmost point of the Australian continent, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its friendly dolphins, dugongs (relatives of the manatee), ancient stromatolites, and rich marine life. After spending the night camping nearby in Denham, we got up early to go to Monkey Mia to see the dolphin feeding at 8:00. A crowd of onlookers waited on the beach for the dolphins to appear.

Feeding the dolphins at Monkey Mia

Bottlenose dolphins have been visiting the beach at Monkey Mia for more than 40 years. In the 1960s, fishermen returning to Monkey Mia began sharing their catch with some local dolphins. Over the years, the dolphins’ trust grew and several more were fed at the jetty and later the beach. An increasing numbers of visitors came to see the dolphins. Now the feeding of the dolphins is managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife. When the dolphins came in to the shallow water, we watched as volunteers fed them from buckets of fish.

Catamaran tour at Monkey Mia, Shark Bay

Later that morning we took a catamaran trip on the bay, where we saw more dolphins and stopped at a floating pearling enterprise. That evening we had dinner in a restaurant in Denham called the Old Pearler built of bricks made from leftover shells.

Demonstration of seeding oysters with pearls

The following day we started on the long drive back to Perth and stopped for the night at the Wildflower Caravan Park at Eneabba.

An example of Australian humor

Because of the long-running drought, there were not as many wildflowers as in wet years, but we had an interesting tour to see the few plants that were in bloom and a slide show of some others. In the morning, we met a number of VERY friendly kangaroos. Like many Australians, the owners of the caravan park foster orphaned joeys, who, when they are old enough, have free run of the campground. Not surprisingly, some of them allowed us to get quite close!

Caroline with young Western Gray Kangaroo

SEA BIRDS AND SEA LIONS: Walking the Coast Trail, La Jolla, CA

Cliff walk, La Jolla, California

If you are in San Diego and want a taste of nature, the half-mile cliff walk in La Jolla is the perfect place to go.  There you can view hundreds of birds roosting on the rocks and flying about above the cliffs, as well as playful sea lions frolicking in the water and basking on the rocks along the shore.  On a nice day (and these are what you expect when you go to Southern California!) you can see kayakers and paddle boarders enjoying the ocean as well.

Cormorants perched in tree along the path

I recently had the chance to take this short hike on a day trip to San Diego. From the parking area we descended stairs to the dirt path that winds its way along the top of the cliffs.  From the path there is a spectacular view across the bay toward downtown La Jolla and as you round the bend toward the viewing platform at the end of the trail you can look back and see the sea caves along the bottom of the cliffs.

Gulls and pelicans

A group of cormorants perched in a tree greeted us as we approached, and then as we got closer we could see and smell hundreds of the black birds clinging to the cliffs below.  Next to them was a group of pelicans and some gulls, who seemed to preferred the flatter rocks for perching.  As we watched the sea lions diving in the water we saw flashes of orange, which I assume were garibaldis, the large colorful fish common in southern California waters, which were swimming just below the surface. No doubt, the reason so many birds and sea lions live here is the abundance of available food.

California sea lions

It was a glorious day and we just enjoyed being in the outdoors, listening to the calls of the birds and barking of the sea lions as we soaked up the fall sunshine.  I am always surprised that even so close to a large urban area, the natural world just goes about its business as usual and gives us the opportunity to marvel at the wonders of nature.

Cormorants on the cliff

For more information about getting to the trail and where to park, go to this post at Natural Born Hikers. http://www.naturalbornhikers.com/trails/lajolla.html