Monkey Mia Dolphin Experience

The Monkey Mia dolphin experience is managed by Parks and Wildlife Service, Western Australia.

The adjoining Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort is managed privately. https://www.facebook.com/monkeymiadolphinresort

What is the Monkey Mia Dolphin Experience

Monkey Mia, in the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, is one of the most popular tourism destinations in Western Australia. More than 100,000 visitors come each year to enjoy a close encounter with the wild dolphins of Monkey Mia.

There are no set times for dolphin experiences as they depend on if and when the dolphins visit the beach from 7:45am – 12 noon. Up to 5 mature female dolphins can be offered fish the first three times they visit. If the dolphins visit more than three times or after 12 noon they will not be fed. It is best to arrive early as dolphin experiences may finish well before 12 noon.

Please meet the rangers at the Visitor Centre for a briefing at 7:45am.

Dolphins are only fed under strict supervision of Parks and Wildlife officers with feed amounts small so that the dolphins continue to behave and hunt naturally and teach their young important survival skills.

Although the feeds only happen in the morning, many visitors taking the time to enjoy Monkey Mia in the afternoons are rewarded with exciting displays of foraging by the dolphins in the shallow water along the beach. The dolphins visiting Monkey Mia are wild, weigh up to 120kg and can swim at up to 40km/h when foraging.

There are days when the dolphins choose not to visit the beach. However, these days are rare -Monkey Mia has a 99% dolphin attendance rate!

Monkey Mia is not just about dolphins. Stay a few days and immerse yourself in the wonder of this World Heritage area. You’ve come a long way so take time to enjoy it!
Please help us look after the dolphins

So many visitors can affect the health of the dolphins. To avoid harming the dolphins we ask you please do not touch or swim with the Monkey Mia dolphins. It is illegal to approach a dolphin within 30m.

Visitor fees apply to all people visiting Monkey Mia, including resort guests. Fees pay for the costs of managing the dolphin experience and maintaining facilities. National Park Passes do not apply to Monkey Mia Conservation Park.

Pre-purchase your permits whilst you are in Denham at the Shark Bay Discovery Centre. http://www.sharkbay.wa.gov.au/world-heritage/discovery-centre/

Accommodation

The Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort is the only accommodation at Monkey Mia. Camping is also available at the resort http://www.monkeymia.com.au.

The nearby town of Denham (29km) also has a range of accommodation and attractions. http://www.sharkbay.wa.gov.au/world-heritage/discovery-centre/


History of the Monkey Mia dolphins

Bottlenose dolphins have been visiting the beach at Monkey Mia for more than 50 years. As early as the 1950s, local traditional fishermen returning to Monkey Mia began sharing their catch with some local dolphins which followed them in to the inshore area. The first dolphin to come inshore and interact with humans was called “Charlie”.

The Monkey Mia jetty was built in approximately 1960. During this time, the dolphins continued to follow the local fishermen in to the inshore area and were also seeking handouts from the jetty.

In 1964 a lady named Nyn Watts hand fed a dolphin from her live aboard boat. During a moonlit night she reached into her ice-box and pulled out a fish, held it down into the water and the dolphin took it out of her hand. The feeding became a routine and she put a lot of time and care into the dolphins.

Over the years, the dolphins’ trust grew and several more were fed at the jetty and later the beach. As increasing numbers of visitors came to see the dolphins, news of the phenomenon spread. Monkey Mia is now home to one of Australia’s most famous wildlife encounters.

Research into the Monkey Mia dolphins began in 1982, and they have been continuously studied since 1984. As understanding of the animals has increased, the human-dolphin experience has changed to improve the dolphins’ health and wellbeing.

The dolphins’ welfare also improved with the construction of improved visitor facilities in the mid-1980s. Then in 1988 the Monkey Mia Reserve was created to protect the area’s environmental and recreational values. Further protection came in 1990, when the waters adjoining Monkey Mia were declared a Marine Park.

In 2001 the Monkey Mia Visitor Centre was opened to interpret the life of dolphins and other marine species, and inform visitors about their conservation management.

Management of the Monkey Mia dolphins

The Monkey Mia experience has survived for more than five decades because of careful supervision of the human-dolphin experience, control of dolphin feeding and protection of the dolphin’s habitat. The Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife incorporates the latest scientific research findings to safeguard the dolphins’ health, welfare and habitat while maintaining sustainable dolphin-focused tourism.


Management of the human-dolphin experience.

People love dolphins, but there is a risk they may be loved to death. Uncontrolled wildlife encounters can be detrimental to the health, welfare and long-term survival of the animals.

Regulating dolphin feeding

The tradition of fishers sharing their catch with dolphins may have been acceptable in the past, when there were few visitors to Monkey Mia. Today, with more than 100,000 visitors per year, feeding dolphins from fishing boats and other places would result in the dolphins receiving too many fish for their own good!

• Research has shown that dolphins that rely on hand-outs lose their wild instincts, such as their ability to hunt. In the past the calves of some overfed dolphins starved to death because of neglect by their mothers!

Monkey Mia’s dolphins are wild animals that must be able to support themselves in their environment. Calves must learn natural behaviour from their mothers and other adult dolphins so they know how to survive in the wild. Too much feeding and long periods at the beach significantly reduce these vital lessons.

The feeding strategy at Monkey Mia allows for close encounters with the dolphins while ensuring the dolphins do not become dependent on handouts or stressed by human interaction.

• Only adult females with good survival skills are fed. These females must be from a one of the three families that regularly visit the beach.

• Males (including male calves) are not fed because they tend to be more aggressive towards other dolphins and humans. Also, sons do not regularly associate with their mothers after being weaned.

• The dolphins are never fed more than a quarter of their daily food requirements – they still have to hunt for most of their food.

• Only fresh local fish that the dolphins hunt in the wild are used at Monkey Mia.

• Feeding only takes place in the morning, to encourage the dolphins to spend more time offshore doing their normal activities in the afternoon.

• Dolphins are fed the first 3 times they visit and are not kept any longer than 30 minutes in the shallows. This allows mothers to regularly feed their calves milk which can only occur in deeper water.

• There are no set feeding times. This prevents the dolphins from becoming conditioned, affecting their natural wild behaviour. Dolphin experiences occur between 7:45 am and 12 noon.

• Dolphins must not be touched - this reduces the stress on the animals.

• People are not allowed to give their own fish to the dolphins, either from boats, the jetty or the shore. In fact, it’s illegal to feed dolphins without authorisation anywhere in Western Australia.

To some visitors, these rules may seem tough. But the success of the strategy is evident in the dolphins’ survival rates. Between 1983 and 1994 only 4 out of 15 nursing calves survived. The high death toll was attributed to overfeeding, unregulated feeding, and dolphins spending too much time with humans in the shallows rather than caring for their calves.


Between 1995 and 2010, after Parks and Wildlife changed the feeding program, 15 out of 17 nursing calves survived . These improved results would not have been possible without the cooperation of local people and visitors!

Today visitors can enjoy seeing large groups of dolphins visit the shores of Monkey Mia. It is because of this management Monkey Mia now has the highest number of beach visiting dolphins ever recorded!



The Dolphin Experience Area

The waters around Monkey Mia are a recreation zone, created to safeguard the human-dolphin experience and allow compatible recreational activities. The zone extends in an 800 m radius around the end of the Monkey Mia jetty. Within this zone is the Dolphin Experience Area.

All boating, swimming and fishing is prohibited in the Dolphin Experience Area, allowing the dolphins to visit without disturbance. They are fed only in this area so that Parks and Wildlife officers can monitor the dolphins’ health, and record their dietary intake.

Line fishing is allowed in other parts of the recreation zone, but for the safety and welfare of the dolphins spearfishing, netting, water skiing and freestyle jet skiing are prohibited. Your quiet enjoyment will help to ensure the dolphins maintain their natural behaviour and continue to delight generations to come.


Email us if you want to volunteer with the morning dolphin experiences!