Bunbury

Dolphin Discovery Centre, Bunbury, Western Australia

During the mid 1960s, local resident Mrs Evelyn Smith began feeding the dolphins from a small jetty near her home on the Leschenault Inlet.

In 1989 a dolphin specialist was hired by the newly established Bunbury Dolphin Trust and begin feeding and studying the local dolphins of Koombana Bay. From this work came the establishment of the Interaction Zone in 1990 and the Dolphin Discovery Centre in 1994 to allow tourists and members of the community to interact, understand and enjoy the group of five to six dolphins that regularly visit this Zone.

Sick and injured dolphins also treat the beach as a haven, with some repeatedly visiting during periods of illness or injury. A weekly dolphin visitation chart is maintained on site as a guide for people who visit the Centre. The Dolphin Discovery Centre provide care and conserve the Koombana Bay dolphins.

Koombana Bay is home to roughly 50 dolphins who live in the Bay all year round. An estimated additional 100 visit throughout the year, making Bunbury a dolphin hotspot.

An area north of the Bay near the ‘Cut’ seems to be a popular meeting and resting area, and knowledge gained from our research has enabled us to collaborate with Government Departments to give that area Sanctuary status by being zoned as a No Vessel area. Dolphins are also regularly sighted throughout the local estuary and river systems. Ongoing monitoring and research is providing us with more information on the various groupings of dolphins in the area as well as seasonal changes within the region. Calves tend to be born between February and May. At these times it is even more important that nursing dolphin groups be afforded extra space.

Seagrass meadows are an important part of estuarine ecosystems, providing habitat and food for birds, fish and crustaceans. In recent years Bunbury has been affected by the loss of seagrass in the estuary which as affected the dolphin populations in the area. In April 2009, seagrass covered 1,741 hectares of the estuary (about 69 per cent of the estuary area). By 2014, there was a substantial loss of seagrass, which prompted monitoring to start in 2015.

For more information including how to adopt a dolphin to assist the  Dolphin Discovery Centre to monitor and protect these wonderful marine mammals follow this link https://dolphindiscovery.com.au/

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