Have a whale of a time! and some good old fashioned family fun!

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Kate’s Blog

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This is an awesome experience for your children who are fully supervised by a qualified primary school teacher with a working with children clearance.  Tamzyn did this education program on the  Christmas School Holidays and feedback was fantastic.

The children learn a lot and are very excited to return for another session.

For more information read more…..

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Their size is intimidating but exciting at the same time, they can turn really quickly which can take your breath away, their curiosity, playfulness and their willingness to showoff is a shared enjoyment, their eco location as they check you out is like being buzzed by low voltage – in a good way, but their beauty, serenity and graceful movements are very majestic.

Our interactions with these wild dolphins is truly a gift, one which we should never take for granted….. Our vollies understand more than most how precious these mammals are and how lucky that they choose our Bay to live in.

Alex S: Had some magic moments on my swim tour. Mrs Iruka and her new born calf were swimming underneath me a couple of times. They seemed so relaxed. I feel so blessed and I am very grateful for that experience.

The DDC is a great place and I feel very comfortable and welcome here at this place. Thanks to everyone, you are all lovely. Have so many special moments with you.

Jill C: Today is my first “official” day as a Volly. Everyone has made me feel very welcome and instantly part of the team. Lego made me laugh this morning as he was squished up on the glass and squirting everywhere. Big Nick came within an inch of me also, such a privilege, she is so beautiful. Great to see Levy and Eclipse again too. A stunning 32°c, sunny day – what more could one ask for

Audrey: When I went swimming at the Cut and one of the dolphins swam just 30cm from me and looked at me. I could also hear them “talking underwater”. It was beautiful.

Nao: Swimming with WILD dolphins was my dream and it came true almost everyday! Staring at each other will be a moment I will never forget! I loved the dolphin dance.

Sara W: Swimming with dolphins on the tour has been my favourite experience. The rush and adrenalin when dolphins approach you , followed by the calm you feel when they look at you is unbelievable.

Tanya: The way dolphins choose to interact with humans out of curiosity, not food. I now know the difference between trained and wild dolphins.

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SoMeT (pronounced so-me-tee) is the premier conference for tourism marketing professionals looking to share ideas, network and discover opportunities in social and digital media for destination marketing. The event is designed to bring the digital destination marketing community together.

The conference dates are fixed for Wednesday 17 July and Thursday 18 July 2013. If you are a destination marketing professional who wants to keep up with the latest trends and network with your peers, this is the annual conference that you should be at!

Where do you want #SoMeT13AU to be? SoMeT is designed by the community. You get to vote for one of the seven finalist destinations below to choose the host city for the first ever SoMeT Australia.

The first round of voting lasts for five days from Monday 18th February 2013. The four destinations with the most votes at 5pm EST on Friday 22 February will proceed to the semi finals. At this stage, details of the semi finals will be released at the close of this round of voting.

There is a limit of one vote per person per day.

To vote go to this Facebook Link - http://www.facebook.com/SoMeTourism/app_162850930432266

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http://www.dolphindiscovery.com.au/media/marine-matters/

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http://bit.ly/TEtQWT

The GWN7 Cameraman got some great footage and lucky for us and them the dolphins turned up in time to be photographed.

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As I reported in last week column, the start of dolphin season 2012 could only be described as truly sensational with huge numbers of dolphins returning to Koombana Bay and a record number of visits to the Dolphin Discovery Centre’s Interaction Zone. Average visit times to the beach remain over one hour each day however the biggest surprise was revealed on Tuesday morning with the arrival of the very first baby dolphin for the season. This was a little surprising since the traditional birthing season doesn’t start until late January when the water temperature starts to rise above 23 degrees. That said, dolphin calves have also been reported in the middle of winter so a December baby is perfectly fine. Still to be named, the little bundle of joy was probably born on Monday night and was observed for the first time by our swim tour crew early Tuesday morning. Surrounded by a large group of females for protection, the baby and new mum Skye looked fit and healthy and have spent most of their recovery time close to the “Cut’ area and within the Leschenault Estuary channel. This area unfortunately experiences a lot of boating traffic so we will keep a good eye on them both over the next few weeks to monitor their condition, particularly as we head toward the madness of the Christmas holiday period.

If you do head out on the water over the next 6-8 weeks keep your eyes peeled for any signs of Skye and her new bub, or any other new born calves. They are obviously very small, often pale in colour and wrinkled with vertical creases running along their body. Being so small and awkward, they are easily spotted alongside their mums, often jumping right out of the water in a desperate attempt to breathe. Surprisingly, it can take them many weeks to learn how to swim and breath properly, making their mums life stressful and exhausting. For this reason, a number of female dolphins will join forces to assist the new mums, forming maternal groups. These groups act as a support network, providing baby sitting services for the mums, and a crèche environment for the calves. Many of these groups spend a lot of their day resting and feeding within Koombana Bay allowing their calves a chance to develop a thick blubber layer from their rich milk supply before the next winter weather strikes. Despite all of this care, feeding and protection over 40% of them still die before they reach their first birthday. This is mostly the result of poor parenting, malnutrition, murder by other dolphin or attack from predators.

Therefore, if you do come across groups with a new baby calf over the next few months, remember to give them as much space as possible so that any unnecessary stress to them can be avoided.

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From Geof Branson

“A couple of years ago I brought my 13 yr old son  to the Dolphin Discovery Centre. Levy & Eclipse visited and were squeaking a lot to each other.

My son had been to Sea-World in Queensland, dolphins doing circus tricks, dolphins kissed him on the cheek…

As we left my son said “It was really good to see dolphins being dolphins”

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Photo courtesy of Fiona Harvey – dedicated volunteer.

On the 20th October we held another successful Open Day.  Each year to celebrate the start of season we have an open day that is free entry, $20pp Eco Cruises and a host of activities for the kids to do.

This year was no exception with bouncy castles, face painting, sand castle comp, painting of ceramic and wood dolphins, balloon twisting and exploration through our Discovery Centre.  We had over 1500 people come through on the day and feedback was great.

We gave away door prizes on the hour and the worthy winners won an Eco Cruise or a Swim Tour.  The winners were all very excited.

We also drew the winner of the ‘Name the Mother and Calf” competition and the winner Noah Combes with the names – Soda and Pop.

Mid morning we had a 20 minute visit from two of our popular dolphins Lumpy with calf Limpet, which was perfect timing for the “Blessing of the Pod”.

The Open Day was part of the inaugural Dolphin City Festival, which included a lot of events held around the city all of which had a great turn out.

Click to rotate the photos.

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