All At Sea

So today was one of the reasons we had come to Baird Bay. We were going to go and swim with the Sea Lions and Dolphins. It was another gorgeous morning.

We breakfasted and got ready only to be told we were too early! Story of our lives! Allan the owner had decided to delay the trip by half an hour to give the temperature a chance to rise and the sea lions a chance to get down to the water. It gave Marjan a chance to stress about sea-sickness some more.

We were soon wetsuited and chugging along to the island at the mouth of the bay, where apparently, live a colony of sea lions. We got there and spotted a few, a big bull a couple of females and a couple of pups hiding under the rocks. One of the major causes of sea lion cub deaths is being squished by a big bull on the rampage.

None were active and did not seem too keen to get in the water so we chugged across the bay to see if the dolphins wanted to play. They have less choice about getting into the water, and seemed happy to play so we got in. I do not have any photos as I spent my whole time in the water with them. They were close enough to touch, though we were told not to, they seemed to be curious to come and swim around and beneath us, watching how awkward we were in our thick wetsuits, The water was only 14C but we soon forgot it as we each enjoyed our close ups with the pod. They were gorgeous. I was particularly taken by how the young ones kept underneath Marjan as they swam along. Also noticeable was how each dolphin had a particular and individual series of scratches and scars across their head and back. They eventually got bored with us and started moving away looking for more interesting stuff, like surfing the waves. So we got back in the boat to head back to the sea lions. One dolphin wanted to show off so swam underneath our bow, upside down whilst we motored along.

By the time we got back some, though not many sea lions were in the water. In we got. I almost got a nose kiss from one inquisitive youngster. They have the biggest brown eyes you have ever seen and seem quite interested in the stuff around them. Red granite rocks on the sand, the mooring lines, us. They were truly gentle and spectacular animals. If however one got spooked he/she moved so fast it was scary....they can get up to 40Kph which is faster than dolphins at 30.

We then cruised along spotting a number of others along the shore that had chosen NOT to join the play. Alan and crew were a little disappointed that they were not as active and playful as normal. None of the paying guests were at all disappointed. Both dolphins and sea lions were right in among us in their natural environment, we all got quality, up close time and we were all excited and a little awed.

In all the excitement Marjan had not gotten sea sick (yay) and instead had been swimming around with a giant grin. It had been cold though and once out of the water we were all feeling it a bit.

A hot shower and lunch soon had us on the road to recovery. Strangely we both managed to nap after that. I went for a drive to find a Telstra signal so I could send birthday wishes to my brother, and take a couple of photos, and Marjan read a book.

When I got back the sunset was looking pretty good,and Marjan spotted the last dolphin of the day.

We were all at sea about why we don't all live like this!