Dolphins

A dolphin glides silently beneath the bow of a tour boat.

The blue water off Port Stephens is part of the Pacific Ocean. Just offshore a current of water moves south at a few kilometres an hour. This southerly current brings warmer water from the tropical north. Twice a day, on the flood tide, some of this warm water is drawn into the port. High tide is a wonderful, renewing event. Clear, clean, salty water moves over the sand banks. Oyster racks are submerged. Shallow rocky creeks fill with water and become navigable. The aerial roots of mangroves disappear under the unstoppable force. Predatory fish invade the sun-warmed land.

Water need only be waist-deep to find the bottlenose dolphin fishing. Air-breathing, warm-blooded, intelligent and friendly, this fellow mammal is one of the best-loved creatures of the sea. Port Stephens has about eighty resident bottlenose dolphins. Any journey across the water usually involves a close encounter. Dolphins love to ride a boats bow-wave. The pressure wave at the front of a boat gives them a boost. They dive, weave, kick and splash. This gives people a good chance to look at them. Dolphins are grey above and white below. If you see one that looks white it is probably swimming upside down. They do this when mating.
 
Port Stephens is home to about eighty dolphins and attracts numerous tourists eager for a sighting.

Man has a long association with this marine animal and there are plenty of dolphin stories. Forty years ago a local oyster farmer shot at a youthful, exuberant dolphin, which was on his lease knocking over the oyster racks. Old Cutfin is still around today. You can still see one neat hole and one big chip where the two cartridges went through the dorsal fin. Bottlenose dolphins normally live thirty to forty years under good conditions. Nick is another dolphin that has been around for forty-five years-still recognised by the characteristic nick on her fin. She is still breeding. Up until the 1950s fishermen would harpoon dolphins to use as bait in their crab traps. The fishermen knew that once they had killed, a dolphin none from that pod would ever come near that boat again. The boat could be painted or modified but the dolphins would never be caught by that same boat again.
 
A close encounter with a pod of dolphins.

That was over forty years ago. Now, we treasure our dolphins. Charter boats run regular dolphin-watching cruises. Port Stephens dolphins are not fed or induced in any way to come to the boats. They do it out of curiosity. If they are not in the mood, they just swim away. When contact is made with the dolphins, there is always excitement. People rush to the sides and bow of the boat. The air is electric with wonder and anticipation. Most people are happy to have this small contact with a wild creature. Some want more and climb into the boom nets to be in the water with them. Some are able to touch the dolphin, others are splashed by the spray of play.

There is a place on the southern shore of Yacaaba called The Boulders. Just offshore is a big hole filled with millions of round river stones. Every day dolphins gather here at the Dolphin Hole to push themselves into the pebbles and stones on the bottom. This removes the lice and other parasites on their bodies. It is a sort of community bathroom-all part of life for the Port Stephens dolphins.