Monkey Mia

12 – 16 October 2018

We last visited Monkey Mia on our round-Australia trip in 1991 and had always wanted to return so this was on the must do list. Along the way we stopped at Shell Beach which is made entirely of shells from just one type of animal, the Shark Bay cockle. It is truly unique! A popular tourist spot, there were plenty of people taking photos. We didn’t linger as we'd had a long day.

Arriving at Monkey Mia, we first had to stop at the entrance station and pay our visitor fees. For us it was $25 per person for a holiday pass. A single day pass is $15 per person. From there we checked in to our ensuite site in the recently redeveloped resort. No red dirt or green grass here – the road and site surface is all crushed shell. The glare and heat from the surface could mean very quick sunburn If you weren’t careful. Even under the shade of our awning I could feel the reflected UV rays.

We wandered along the beach and later, stopped at the Monkey Bar for Friday drinks. This was a perfect way to round off a big day. Our neighbour warned us that he had heard about a possible storm during the night so we took all the precautions necessary so we wouldn’t get blown away.

A great place for a cool drink.

Low tide.

The rain started at about 5:00am and continued through, on and off, until about 10:00 am. The wind blew hard, but our set-up held fast. We did remain “indoors” for breakfast, and until the rain stopped and bits of blue sky started to appear. Once it was a bit clearer we headed off to go on a designated walk - the Wulyibidi Yaninyna Trail. This moderate 2km loop takes walkers up to the top of the dune, along the ridge then back the other way to the bird hide, back down the dune and to the beach for the walk back. Not quite the walk that was marked on the map, with a bit of back-tracking, we made it nearly 4km. We didn’t see the hoped-for birds, but were entertained by a large number of crabs on the shore. One even scuttled over and stood quite close to Mick as he lay in the sand taking photos. I don’t think it realised he was a human.

Golden ghost crab

Golden ghost crabs shootin' the breeze.

On our second morning, after some more small showers overnight, we rose early to get down to the beach for the first dolphin experience (talk and feeding) at 7:45am. Only female dolphins are fed, and only a small fraction (about 10%) of their daily intake of fish. The whole experience is very strictly controlled with visitors required to wait on the boardwalk until invited onto the beach by rangers. After an introductory talk, during which any number of dolphins (or none) may appear, the invitation to move into the water, only ankle deep, is made. You are required to make a straight line to enable everyone to see the dolphins as they swim up and down the beach. Once it is feed time, you have to leave the water and move about ½ metre up the beach. Volunteers with buckets holding the carefully weighed fish then choose some lucky people to feed a dolphin. We weren’t chosen, but it was good to watch. Once the dolphins are fed, everyone is asked to leave the water for at least 10 minutes to allow them to naturally move off to seek their own food. Up to another two feeding experiences may be conducted during the morning, dependent on the dolphins’ behaviours.

Volunteers with buckets.

One of the lucky onlookers gets to feed a dolphin.

Posing for the cameras.

A pelican and dolphin hunting together.

 After the dolphins feeding we returned to the walk up the dune looking for birds. This time we did the loop straight up the big red dune, along the ridge then back down to the white sandy beach. Mick spent some time on the sand spit stalking some shorebirds. In the evening we enjoyed a nice meal at the on-site bar with a fabulous view of the bay and even saw dolphins swimming by.

I had two main target species for Monkey Mia; Western Grasswren and Chiming Wedgebill. It's well known that the grasswrens can be seen around the main carpark but don't let that fool you, they are still not easy. On our first try we heard them in the thick heath around the carpark but could not see them. The walk behind the caravan park, early in the morning was best but they were still very secretive. The same can be said of the Chiming Wedgebill on this walk, not hard to find but hard to approach. Crested Terns were a bonus on the exposed tidal flats, a bird I hardly ever see. Mick.

Singing Honeyeater. Birds get so scruffy when they are feeding chicks.

I would like to have been able to get closer to this Chiming Wedgebill.

Western Grasswren

Fairy Tern in breeding plumage.

Fairy Tern

Caspian Terns

Caspian Tern

Crested Tern

A Pied Oystercatcher stretching.

On our third morning, we went separate ways - Mick went back up the dune while I went down to the beach for the dolphin feeding again. On the first morning there had been 4 dolphins but this time there were only two. There was also a large number of pelicans as well as a cormorant hanging around. After the feeding I joined Mick on the dune and for the walk back via the beach. On our return to the resort we noticed a dolphin swimming from under jetty. We joined others on the jetty, hoping for some more photos, and were astounded to see one of the three adult dolphins had a baby with her. One of the volunteers told us it had only been born that morning. Such a special experience to see a newborn! Mother and baby swam around for some time while everyone happily photographed them.
 

Mother and Baby.

Brand new baby dolphin.

Mother and baby again.

It was hard to leave on such a beautiful day.

On our final morning we returned to the beach for the morning dolphin experience and were fortunate to again see the new baby and mum Piccolo. Kia and Puck were also there, as were a number of male dolphins. The males didn’t hang around for long – there’s no point when they know they won’t be fed. After a coffee we set off for our next destination.