Travel Tips

Swimming with Wild Dolphins in Rockingham, Western Australia

Swimming with Wild Dolphins in Rockingham, Western AustraliaIn part three of her Western Australia adventures, intrepid traveler Jamie Stringfellow spends some time debating the wisdom of swimming with wild dolphins before jumping ship into the bays of Rockingham.

I sit with my travel mates, swaddled into our neck-to-toe wetsuits, at the edge of a boat that has taken us out to the sheltered bays off Rockingham, Western Australia.

We wait for our turn to slide into the water, tethered to each other front and back, following our leader who’ll take us into the water to swim with the wild dolphins.

The water is choppy and slate gray, and frankly, even the look of it takes my breath away. A lifelong swimmer, I still prefer staying on top of the water, thank you, and the 2-foot snorkel I have behind my ear doesn’t bode well for that.

Wetsuits hang on the boatIndeed, when hear the words “Set it up!” and “Go!” and we slip into the water, frigid even through the suit, I gasp so deeply—from cold, or fear of being pulled under before I’m ready—that I take in water before I’m barely submerged.

I think about the leader’s instructions before we left the boat: Be quick, be quiet, relax.  Breathe regularly through the snorkel, hang onto your friend in front, and be aware of your friend behind.

He said that the dolphins we’d see would be doing their “daily dolphin doings” which is mostly feeding, fighting … and mating.

Get more offbeat travel ideas in our Beach Vacations section.

Two Dolphins Swim Underwater - Western Australia“There’s a lot of free love in the bay,” our lead instructor tells us before we dive in.

“It can be quite shocking,” he says, and goes on to describe a recently spotted mile-long string of males lined up to “have a go” at one particularly appealing female.

The females will come up and check us out right away, and the males will come along and herd them back in. He also explained, “Dolphins can pick up on your mood in the water,” so we should “think nice dolphin thoughts.”

I struggle to regain my calm, wondering if the bottlenose dolphins (the Flipper kind) had picked up on my anxiety. I think nice dolphin thoughts, imagine their Woodstock-like love-fests, and, soon enough, begin to relax.

In the area? Don’t miss Western Australia’s Rottnest Island Travel Guide

Australian dolphin jumps out of the oceanHere’s the thing: There are lots of ways to swim with dolphins in the world, ranging from going out a few hundred yards so you can flop around with dolphins lured with snacks from their natural environment, to theme parks that let you plop into a tank and paddle around with caged animals (who, some might argue, shouldn’t be there to begin with).

Rockingham Wild Encounters, goes out into the bay until they find wild dolphins in their own habitat. Trust with these local dolphins has been built over 20 years without the use of a single “snack.”

For more adventures, visit our Australia & New Zealand travel section.

School of Bottlenose Dolphins - Western AustraliaRockingham is just one more example that I’ve found in my travels in Western Australia of “best practices” in walking that fine line between protecting the fragile beauty of their state, and educating travelers on why it’s worth protecting. Western Australia is one of the earth’s top 25 biodiversity hotspots, meaning it has one of the “richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on Earth”—a double-edged distinction if there ever was one.

But Western Australia, as Conservation International notes on its Biodiversity Hotspots site, has among the best odds in preserving their delicate beauty, largely, from what I’ve seen of my travels there, because of the efforts of responsible operators. The way they see it, the more people interact animals in their natural environments, the less apt people will be to take them from these habitats.

Learn more in our Eco-Travel section.

And of course, travelers who see the results of maintaining natural habitats become supporters, as I’m beginning to see in my underwater adventure.

Dolphin scooter - Western AustraliaSpiraling near us now is a crew member with a “scooter,” the secret tool of this expedition. The unique silent scooter allows a diver to get deep, down to the level of the dolphins, and play among them, enticing them up to the surface where we float. Soon, we’re surrounded by bottlenose dolphins, darting and weaving and nipping at each other.

Sun sprinkles the water above us, like mica, and now, I realize, I am truly relaxed. They really do look like they’re smiling. They’re playing with us, each other, the scooter driver. We know not to touch them. This trust, this dolphin-human interaction, is strictly hands-off.

Headed to Western Australia? Don’t miss Jamie Stringfellow’s Off the Brochure Travel Guide: Perth, Australia.

After a bit, we head back to the boat, sloshed against the landing deck, then get hands up to the deck, where we warm up with coffee or tea, and eat sandwiches. The crew, to a person, are all surfers.

Watching Dolphins Swim - Western AustraliaThey tell us about the dolphins we met under water. We’d seen “the girls” mostly—“Chip,” “Chase,” “Chewy,” and “Matches”—so named by the crew for their unique markings or habits. They’d fought with each other, friendly tussling, and head-butting that meant they were, as any diva-dolphin might be, jealous of the attention another was getting.

We’ll go in several times more over the morning, and each time the flutter I feel in my belly upon slipping into the gray water is assuredly delight, not dread.

For those who prefer to watch these creatures play from the perspective of a boat,  dolphin watch tours are also available. Rockingham Wild Encounters is also the only  operator permitted to offer Penguin Island tours, where spectators can see the world’s tiniest penguins frolicking in their own island Eden.

Next up on her adventures through Western Australia, Jamie explores the wineries, wildflowers and waves of the Margaret River region.

By Jamie Stringfellow for PeterGreenberg.com. Photos courtesy of Western Australia Tourism. Jamie Stringfellow is a freelance writer from Hermosa Beach, California and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and the editor of the site WeekendWalk.com, which promotes walking adventures.

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