 |
 |
|
TANGALOOMA WILD DOLPHIN RESORT |
 What is the Tangalooma
Dolphin Care Program?The dolphins that visit Tangalooma are totally wild. They choose to come into the shallows to interact with us and take a few fish from our hands. The Tangalooma Dolphin Care Program has been developed to ensure that people feeding the dolphins do not harm them in any way. Procedures which the Program has adopted are designed to minimise disturbance to the dolphins' natural behaviour patterns. |
| Keeping the dolphins
wild We want to discourage the dolphins from depending on us, or becoming too tame. Therefore, the amount of fish given to the dolphins varies between 10 and 20% of their daily food requirement. Because we only feed them this limited amount the dolphins still need to hunt for themselves. In addition, we limit our contact with them so that they remain wild and wary of humans. This reduces the possibility of somebody harming them. |
| Tips for getting the
most out of your encounter with the dolphins Remember that the Tangalooma dolphins are wild. What you will see is natural, wild behaviour, not a 'dolphin show'. Watching from the jetty is highly recommended. This elevated viewpoint gives you a much better position to watch the dolphin's behaviour. Take the opportunity to listen to the presentations during the feeding and learn about dolphins. |
| Feeding
the dolphins Please note: The Dolphin Feeding Program operates to strict guidelines, therefore restrictions on feeding apply. The number of guests able to feed the dolphins will depend on weather and tidal conditions and dolphin attendance. We do not want too many people to feed the dolphins.Therefore, we request that only those people who really want to, go in to feed. Those who do feed will only have a few seconds in the water, and unfortunately, may not see as much as those who choose to stay on the jetty to watch. |
How it all started The group of dolphins
we are privileged to have visit us at Tangalooma are inshore
bottlenose dolphins which have a home range in the area of
Tangalooma. For many years these dolphins have come to the
waters underneath the resort jetty to feed on the bait fish
which are attracted by the jetty lights. In April 1992, one
of these dolphins, which we named "Beauty", began to eat fish
that were thrown to her from the jetty. We suspect she was
very hungry because she had a young calf (baby dolphin) still
suckling milk from her. We call this calf "Tinkerbell". In
October 1994, "Beauty" gave birth to her third calf which
we named "Shadow". Since "Beauty" began to take fish from
us, other dolphins in her pod (group) have joined the nightly
feeding. We now have between eight and ten dolphins attending
the feeding sessions. If you spend a little time looking carefully
at each of the dolphins you will notice that they are all
a little different from one another. You may learn to recognise
each of them by their size, colour (some lighter, some darker)
and in particular the shape of their dorsal fin. So spend
some time up on the jetty and see if you can recognise which
dolphin is which. |
| Dolphin Research Tangalooma Resort assists researchers from the University of Queensland and other Universities worldwide to study the dolphins in Moreton Bay, including the dolphins that visit Tangalooma. These studies are helping us to increase our understanding of wild dolphin behaviour and their biology. You may see these researchers observing the dolphins during the feeding sessions, you could also be asked to help with this research by completing questionnaires. Your interest in this research is welcome and any assistance you can give is much appreciated. |
Every effort is made to ensure
that information, including prices, shown on this page is correct.
All information is received by us from other sources and we endeavour
to check all detail when received. However, we take no responsibility
for the information received or for any mistake or omission made
by Holiday Magic staff in the up-load of information.
|
Member
- Tourism Whitsundays |
A division of
|
|