Monkey Mia Beach
Part of the Shark Bay World Heritage Area
Meet the Monkey Mia beach dolphins!
Most mornings between 7:00am and noon, five females and their offspring visit the beach to receive fish from
the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) rangers. Visitors to Monkey Mia are able to enter the
shallows and assist in the feeding under the supervision of the rangers.
Very strict controls apply to the feeding of dolphins within the Monkey Mia area, it is illegal to feed dolphins unless under DEC ranger supervision. To find out more
visit this website. If you have enquiries about feeding,
contact the Department of Environment and Conservation.
While other dolphins often visit the beach, only five adult females are fed. Shock, the daughter of
provisioned dolphin Surprise, is the most recent dolphin to start accepting fish from DEC rangers. Their other offspring and grandoffspring-
Sparky, Kiya, Burda, Eden, India, Shiver, Startle, Flute, Fin, Samu, and Khamun- have not been hand fed.
To find out how research helped the survival of the beach dolphins visit our
Why research? page and our Research findings page.
Monkey Mia also offers a beach resort, wildlife cruises
and a visitor interpretation center containing up to date information, interactive displays and an amphitheatre for
talks and slide shows.
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Five adult females, Nicky, Puck, Surprise, Piccolo, and Shock are provisioned.
Each is identified by distinctive markings on their dorsal fins. The provisioned dolphins, as well as their offspring,
who also visit the beach, are pictured below. Click on the "Researchers' Anecdotes and Stories" on the right to see the complete family trees and read the histories of the beach dolphins.
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Page last updated July 2010 by Vivienne Foroughirad
