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In Western Australia, there is a small beach
named Monkey Mia. Every year, thousands of
people visit the tiny stretch of beach, and in
spite of its name, they are not there to see
monkeys as one would expect. On the contrary,
dolphins are what these people expect to see.
Tourists from America, Europe and Asia go there
for an opportunity that is not easily available
anywhere else -- a chance to play with dolphins
that appear and disappear according to their own
fancy. For more than thirty years, dolphins
have swum up to the shallow waters of the beach.
They do not seem to fear humans. Instead, they
move right up to each person, allowing the
person to touch and play with them. This is the
behavior that one would tend to expect more from
tame animals, rather than these dolphins. Tame
animals would have had more interaction with
people and would therefore be unafraid of them.
Zoologists go to Monkey Mia to study dolphins.
It gives them the advantage of studying dolphins
that grew up in the wild easily, since the
object of the study comes up to them so
willingly.
According to the locals who fish in the
waters of Monkey Mia where a variety of fishes
in abundance are easily found, the story started
with a woman named Alice Watts. She was on her
boat one night when she heard the sound of a
dolphin swimming nearby. After some time, she
took a fish and threw it to the dolphin. Not
long after, the dolphin visited her again, this
time bringing along its mate and baby. In time,
Alice could even feed these dolphins by hand.
Sometimes, the dolphins would throw the fish
that Alice gave them back into the boat, almost
as if they were playing a game.
Soon, many other dolphins visited the beach,
much to the joy of the local folks. Tourists,
too, started coming to marvel at the sight of
these beautiful creatures. The local people try
their best to leave them in their most natural
state. So far, they are unaffected by people.
They are not taught any tricks, so whatever they
do is more meaningful. The local district
council has appointed rangers to look after the
dolphins. The rangers patrol the area to ensure
that no one harms or harasses the dolphins. |
