Dolphin Volunteers take a trip
by Norma Sanderson, volunteer
Some of the dolphin volunteers visited Sea World on the Gold Coast to see Amity (an Australian humpback dolphin just like our dolphins).
This Dolphin has been at Sea World since 1979 (and before that at Marine World) and she is now around 62 years old. So these dolphins can have an extended life span.
Amity was rescued when she was injured when quite young and would not have survived in the wild. She can be seen by the public in one of the pools and adapts well with the Indo Pacific bottlenose dolphins.
Actually, dolphin trainer Dean says, “she is like a surrogate mother to the young dolphins”.
We were given VIP treatment by the trainers and we were very impressed by their methods and love of the animals. We all came away with tears in our eyes after seeing the interaction between trainers and dolphins.
Sea World has a junior program with school youngsters learning about the environment and the dolphins. They are privileged to be able to interact in the pool with Echo, a large dark grey off-shore dolphin. Amazing!
Of course our dolphins are not trained and are wild, but they do sometimes put on a show with some leaping out of the water and tail slapping.
Don’t forget to come see our new calf, Joe. If you are a local, just show your identification at the gate and entry is free. However if you wish to feed, the cost is $5. See you there!
