TANGALOOMA WILD DOLPHIN RESORT - DOLPHIN CARE
 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. |
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