It was very different to what we expected but in a good way. The Dolphin's welfare is the major priority so the 'feeding' was very structured and quite minimal.
There are only (5) female dolphins in the program so you have to wait for one of these girls to come in (which they usually do). There are only (3) feeding sessions each morning and they occur only when the girls come in on their own accord. Feeding stops at 12midday but you may still see the dolphins 'fishing' near the beach.
When one of the girls (or a group) come in, one of the Rangers comes down and gives an informative talk about Monkey Mia and the dolphins. The Rangers can easily identify the dolphins by their dorsal fins and markings on their bodies. They all have cute names: Surprise, Sonic, Shock, Puck, Nicky.
So here we are listening to the Ranger's talk and hoping and praying that someone from our family would be lucky enough to get picked to feed one of the gorgeous girls! Anticipation was high! This would be a dream come true for our little Bindi Irwin 11 (aka Ella).
"James, Mum said to make sure that you look at the volunteer with the biggest, cutest smile you can muster!!"
(volunteers bring the buckets of fish down and pick people from the crowd to feed the dolphin)
"James, here come the volunteers with the buckets of fish, get ready!!"
It was so hilarious as the volunteer didn't pick the gorgeous smiling girl with the bright orange bandanna on, but instead chose the big fella up the back with his bright red tshirt on!!
Doesn't matter, kids you are on!!!
Dad was right there to catch the moment of action....
Excited, happy kids!!!
Excited happy Mother!!
And here is our gorgeous girl, Surprise, with her calf Sonic. Surprise was born in 1979 and has had six calves.
Apparently she is a wonderful mother and is now even a Grandmother!! Her daughter Shock gave birth to her first calf in 2007.
Another amazing experience for the family!!
True bucket list stuff!!
What a great thrill for the kids.Bet that made your day!
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