Dolphins in Tuross Lake

[vnx205]

I have just returned from a 3 hr paddle on Tuross Lake and as has happened every time I've been out since they became trapped, the dolphins came out to play.

Ten of them came into the lake back in the middle of August and three of them must have liked the look of the place because only seven of them went back out to sea.

Shortly after that the entrance became too shallow for them to return and for the last couple of months the mouth has been completely closed.

There are two large adults and one juvenile. Their situation is being monitored by NPWS and all the signs at the moment indicate that they are happy and healthy. The juvenile is about twice the size it was when it first arrived.

The lake seems to be large enough and the supply of fish great enough to keep them happy. In spite of the worries of some fishermen that they will deplete the fish stocks in the lake, I have to say that this morning I saw at least as many fishermen hauling in fish as I usually do.

87County asked me if I feed them. The short answer is, no. The long answer is, if you thought they needed to be fed to keep them alive, there is no need to. They seem to be doing quite well on their own. If you meant is that how I attract them to the kayak, the answer is they just come to the kayak either out of curiosity or because they want to play.

On a couple of occasions when a group of us were just sitting in a bunch ready to work out which direction we would paddle, one surfaced in the middle of the group, less than a couple of metres from the kayaks.

There is no question that they are attracted to the kayaks. Normally they circle around for several minutes. I have had one pass less than a metre in front of the bow.

This morning was really special. Normally they rise out of the water so that about half the depth of their body is visible. This morning one rose far enough that the whole depth of its body was out of the water. Then all three of them jumped about a metre out of the water. All this happened about a kayak length away from me.

Money can't buy the special feeling of an experience like that.

[Slunnie]

:eek:

That would have just been exceptional! I still remember the excitement when a whale surfaced beside out Cat at the Whitsundays..... but that is nothing compared to what you've jusst had! Thats something you'll always remember!!!:cool:

[Xavie]

Got to see your friends on ch 10 news Vnx!

Interestingly enough they say although the Dolphins are healthy they do want to get out to sea again. Make sure you get lots of paddling in before they are gone. I'm tempted to come down myself!!!

[hoadie72]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

[Xavie]

Jeez Hoadie they are just dolphins.... They all look pretty similar!:p

[hoadie72]

I think it'd be pretty cool to see them swimming next to a kayak..not something you see every day, especially on a lake. No harm in asking :D

[vnx205]

http://forums.eurocca.net/images/smilies/pics.gif


I know, but you try paddling a kayak, holding a camera without getting salt water on and being quick enough to get a good shot, all at the same time. :)

I would like to try it though.

[vnx205]

In the interests of making this thread more useful, I had a go this morning at getting a few shots of the dolphins.

It wasn't easy. I had a lot of shots of a swirl in the water where a dolphin had been.

These are taken with a Sony S90 with the normal 3x optical zoom. The photos are not cropped or manipulated in any way, so you can see they really do come close to the kayak.

Unfortunately I haven't perfected the technique of predicting where the dolphins will surface or of swinging the camera quickly and stopping as I press the shutter. Consequently the quality is a bit ordinary, but the experience is still special.

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/7/16/2005444/Dolphin1.jpg

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/7/16/2005444/Dolphin2.jpg

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/7/16/2005444/Dolphin3.jpg

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/7/16/2005444/Dolphin4.jpg

[hoadie72]

That's awesome, big thanks for the effort too!

[weeds]

well done with the pics, whats the topic for the current picture competition, backyard?, i reckon you could nearly call the lake your back yard

[vnx205]

well done with the pics, whats the topic for the current picture competition, backyard?, i reckon you could nearly call the lake your back yard

I actually thought of that too as I was paddling back to shore this morning. I was going to try claiming Tuross Lake as my backyard and see what the reaction was.

The problem was that I had already submitted a photo of some obscure Brazilian bird that I had mistaken for a native Aussie.:p


Then again as someone has objected to my previous photo on the grounds that the bird was not an Australian native, does that mean I can try again with a dolphin photo? :D

[hoadie72]

Dunno, they could be the rare Japanese Dolphin or something .. lol

[hoadie72]

How are these dolphins going? Did any more return to the ocean?

[vnx205]

They have now been in the lake for six months and still appear to be healthy and happy.

The baby has more than doubled its size and for the last month or so has been seen sometimes swimming independently from its mother. For the first few months they stuck so close to each other that they seemed to be joined at the hip (so to speak).

Unless the dolphins can work out a way to cross more than 100 metres of dry sand between the lake and the sea, then they aren't going anywhere.

The mouth of the lake closed off a month or two after they arrived, so they haven't had the option of leaving for some time now.

The salinity level appears to be still acceptable. The evaporation rate must be balancing the small inflow of fresh water down the Tuross River.

As far as I know there are still no plans to do anything except monitor their health and the salinity level of the lake.

They continue to provide a bit of excitement for kayakers and people in boats, especially children.

[101RRS]

They continue to provide a bit of excitement for kayakers and people in boats, especially children.

Until some low life does something to them:mad:.

[Chucaro]

Awesome experience. Thanks to share it with us. :)

[DirtyDawg]

"In spite of the worries of some fishermen that they will deplete the fish stocks in the lake"


Stuff them, tell them to eat more chicken;)

[vnx205]

I thought it appropriate to revive this thread because the dolphins have now been in the Tuross Lake for exactly a year.

The Tuross Head Newsletter claims this is week 51, but I know that is not correct because I saw them in the week before I left for England at the end of August last year.

They appear to be still in good health but the mouth of the lake is well and truly closed, so they will not be going anywhere for some time yet. The baby has grown a lot and for several months has been prepared to stray some distance from its mother.

In spite of their enormous appetite for fish, fishermen are still able to catch fish in the lake.

During the first few months on their confinement it was almost certain that I would see them if I went out in the kayak. Now I would see them less than half the time. They are ranging much wider now and are often seen in quite different parts of the lake. That could be because the water level had slowly risen since the lake closed and they can explore new areas, or perhaps because they became bored with staying in the same few places.

[hoadie72]

Funny, I was thinking about this thread the other day and was wondering if they managed to swim out over winter. Can you often see them from the shore? I'm passing by Tuross Lake next weekend and might pop in for a look.

[vnx205]

Initially your chances would have been good because they spent most of their time in the main basin. If you had a cup of coffee at The Boatshed, there was a good chance they would swim past. Some patrons have even been treated to the sight of them rounding up a school of mullet.

However, while I have seen them several times from the shore, there are now plenty of places they can go where you wouldn't see them.

You never know your luck though. A friend of mine hired a canoe a couple of weeks ago and within 5 minutes, the dolphins were hanging around the canoe.

So there are no guarantees.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

must be a LOT of fish in that lake:o

[vnx205]

I guess that fish numbers had built up since commercial fishing in the lake was prohibited.

I think that happened in 2002 and anecdotal evidence suggests that the fishing had improved for recreational fishermen.

I have heard that the dolphins are more interested in mullet than flathead. I don't know if that is true, but I hope it is and there does seem to be some justification for the belief. They have certainly been seen working as a team to round up schools of mullet.

[hoadie72]

Was searching through the forum for threads about kayaks and I came across this one. I did make it down to the lake on Sept 4th but didn't see the dolphins. I assume they're still there?

[vnx205]

They were still there until the recent rains.

This happened.
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/7/16/2005444/Flood1.JPG

So they had to do this to the entrance.
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/7/16/2005444/Flood.JPG

I wasn't there to see it. i was driving down from Darwin at the time, dodging Cyclone Olga.
I have heard that the dolphins went back out to sea. There are even rumours that four dolphins went out because there was a new baby with them that had been born in the lake. If that is true, then they must have been happy and healthy in the lake. I will be interested to learn whether there really was a new baby.

[vnx205]

The dolphins are still in the lake. However, they are now there by choice. The mouth is 50 metres wide and 2 or 3 metres deep at high tide.

I saw all three of them when I was out on the lake kayaking this morning.

They may have gone out briefly, but apparently with all the murky water just outside the mouth, there are likely to be sharks hanging around. Maybe they know this and realise they are safer in the lake or maybe they have just become accustomed to their celebrity status.