The Shotover is a large catamaran that runs out of Monkey Mia. It takes visitors on wildlife viewing cruises and it goes out on sunset cruises. It used to be a racing boat, and I've heard legends that at one time it was the fastest boat in the country. I think they have coolest logo ever. From a distance it looks like a perfect flower, but the petals of the flower are Shark Bay critters: dugong, gecko, dolphin, turtle, pelican. I was here for a week before I got up close enough to the boat to see the animals incorporated in the design.
Cindy and I joined the afternoon outing on the Shotover. It was warm and sunny when we left. It was a beautiful cruise, we sailed north to...? We did not see much wildlife at first and then: DUGONG! We did not get a great look at it, and there is a good chance it was the one we saw yesterday.
We came across a green turtle that was floating at the surface, looking extremely ill or even dead. (Normally they only surface for a quick breath and then submerge, as they are more vulnerable to predators when they are on the surface.) Notice how his head is underwater.
This is what a healthy turtle should look like on the surface. He just came up for a quick breath. (This pic was also taken from the Shotover about an hour earlier)
We took him on board and called the Department of Environment and Conservation who wanted us to bring the poor fellow back in with us to take a look at him. We found out the next day that he did not survive.
We saw dolphins of course. You can't go out on, or even get near the water without seeing dolphins here. A group of five Monkey Mia regulars came right up to the boat an hung out for a while.
Cindy drove the boat for a while (She has the proper license! We had a lovely afternoon on the water then came back and crunched a bit more data before dinner.
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