Dugongs and more at Tangalooma, Moreton Island, near Brisbane

I had a delightful surprise at a business breakfast meeting run by the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) a couple of months ago.  I dropped my business card as usual into the bowl of cards while preparing to listen to a speech by our opposition tourism minister, and won the draw for an overnight trip for two to Tangalooma Resort, including return ferry journey, dolphin feeding, accommodation and buffet breakfast.

So two of us (Ronda and Denis) headed off in pre-dawn light to the wharf on Brisbane River, pleasantly surprised to find they had also allowed us free parking for two days.

So we were soon leaving Brisbane and heading for the one of the world’s largest sand islands

Near the resort is a grim reminder of the island’s whaling days – now the whales are appreciated more as magnificent, intelligent, playful animals than for their body parts. This harpoon was bent during such an animal’s struggles while its captors waited for it to slowly exhaust itself

Nearby a whistling kite fought his reflection in a resort window (they’re nesting nearby and don;t want rivals), and also rebuffed some crows that were protesting his presence

 

A white-faced heron sat nearby

A pied cormorant wandered down towards the bird feeding area

 

While waiting for our room to be prepared, we watched fish and seabirds being fed

 

 

Now the bit I’d really been waiting for!  After lunch we headed off on the eco-cruise to seek dugongs and other marine life.

 

And sure enough, within 20 minutes we had found a dugong

They don’t leap out of the water like dolphins, just quietly feed on the sea-grass (they’re sometimes called ‘sea-cows’) and come every couple of minutes or so to the surface for a breath of air.  Our guide told us they do some farming – pulling out the sea-grass species they don’t like so much, which facilitates the growth of their favoured species

I had previously patted an Amazonian manatee (one that had been confiscated as an illegal pet and being prepared for rehabilitation into the wild, near Manaus) and seen a captive dugong a tSeaWorld, but this was my first sighting of a wild dugong, so I was quite enthralled. He surfaced several times before we left I’m to seek other creatures

A cormorant dived for fish alongside our boat

The wrecks that were deliberately sunk as artificial reefs for fish and other marine life are popular with kayakers and divers

That evening we indulged in the activity Tangalooma is famous for – dolphin feeding

The feeding of the dolphins is carefully regulated, based on research on effects offending practices her and elsewhere

Lines of visitors are speed out so that the dolphins also spread out, not crowding together, competing for food and knocking each other over. Thy are not fed enough fish to satisfy ten, so have to keep up their skills at catching wild fish each day. Visitors are requested to hold the fish under water so dolphins don’t strain their muscles trying to reach up for them. Frozen fish are thawed in fresh water to avoid them being too salty. Young dolphins are not fed while still feeding from their mothers. Visitors are advised not to pat or otherwise touch them while giving them the fish, to avoid any stress.

 The close contact with these wild creatures does have an emotional impact, and we hope that many of the people participating now have a more positive attitude towards them as a result

Next morning we enjoyed a hearty buffet breakfast (also included in our prize)

We spent the day relaxing, watching birds and finally watching another bird feeding session and dolphins feeding session before finally leaving.  We would have loved to spend a few more days

 

more soon ….

 

For information on how to have a holiday at Tangalooma, visit http://www.tangalooma.com/info/home/