You Can 'Wreck-on' on Seeing Dolphins

Manda writes:

When we drove straight through Hervey Bay, we missed our chance to visit Fraser Island and the Maheno Wreck (a wreck on the beach). So when we saw flyers advertising the Tangalooma Wrecks in Moreton Island, we jumped at the chance.

Moreton Island, which sits 35 km from Brisbane, was formed by volcanic erruptions and long-shore drift. This island is the third largest sand island in the world (first largest being Fraser Island).

After a 75 minute catamaran journey, we arrived on the island at midday. The Tangalooma Resort is right by the jetty; we had lunch there and then headed straight for the wrecks, an easy 30 minute walk away along the coast.

There are 15 wrecks in the water - half of them completely submerged and the rest, half-submerged. The most obvious wreck is a sand dredger which still has its dredging buckets intact. This particular vessel dates back to the 1890s and the buckets, which are arranged in a circular chain, were used to scoop sand up to create a shipping channel.

A snorkeller's eye view of the Tangalooma Wrecks.

Snorkelling at the wrecks was lovely. The parts of the wrecks beneath the water were covered in coral, making this a perfect haven for fish. The parts above were covered in rust. I found the experience a bit eerie at first but once I'd reminded myself that these wrecks had been sunk on purpose (to protect the shoreline), the feeling went away. Up until this trip, I had not seen anything but fish, coral, snorkellers and divers under the water. Oh and the odd shoe but I guess this doesn't count!

Ian and I watched the sunset and that was beautiful as this photo tried to capture.

Moreton Island sunset. (desktop wallpaper version available - click on the image above)

At dusk, we went back over to the jetty - time to do some wild dolphin feeding. We were told to get there at 7.15pm - we were surprised that the dolphins were punctual too! Six out of the eight regular dolphins had turned up and were circulating the jetty and beach areas. A briefing was given to explain how to feed the dolphins. You had to hold the tail end of the fish and hold it under the water.

Ian went to the beach first to feed Tinkerbell, while I took some photos from the jetty. From up there I spotted a lady in one of the queues about to walk over to one of the dolphins who didn't look like she wanted to be there. As soon as she got near to the dolphin, she dropped the fish, turned around and sprinted back to the sand, looking terrified. It made the crowd chuckle but I'm sure it wasn't a pleasant experience for her!

Dolphins await their food at Moreton Island.

Each person was allowed to feed two small fish each - judging by the size of the four queues, these dolphins were not going to starve. Once Ian finished feeding Tinkerbell, it was my turn. I was the last person to feed the dolphins. The keeper gave me six fish to feed Tinkerbell. She took them gently from my hand, making sure she did not nip me by accident in the process. Dolphins are such kind-natured creatures - very cool!

Apparently, Tinkerbell was the first dolphin to be hand fed at this particular location. Happy with the quantity of fresh fish and the way she was treated, she came back every night for more ... and so did her family and a few select friends. I can just imagine the dialogue : "There's this great place where you can go to get a free feed - no kidding, these humans actually queue up to feed us. Great huh? All we have to do is look cute and eat!". "Well, I'm sold. Let's go!"

We caught the 8.15pm catamaran back. We'd had an excellent day out on the island. Even though we were only 35km away from Brisbane, we felt a lot further out. Sand, sea, palm trees, an abundance of good weather and the perfect sun-set - this was truly paradise!