Dolphins & Platypus An older gentlemen provoked thought the other day when I was filming platypus and he remarked “Ah so you are the naturalist in your family are you?” Which got me thinking? Am I? What exactly is a naturalist? First stop: google. “A person who studies or is an expert or shares knowledge of the natural environment.” Not to be confused with naturalism: “the idea or belief that only natural (as opposed to supernatural or spiritual) laws and forces operate in the world." I am firmly entrenched in the Christian faith so that doesn’t apply to me.
Definitely also not to be confused with the close term "naturist." Aka - nudist. Like hell! Also strictly does not apply to me!! Hmmm i studied marine science first, fisheries management second, and over the years worked as a dive instructor, a scientific observer and a fishery officer. As well as lover of nature photography, and many hobbies which get our family out into the natural outdoors like hiking, mountain biking, boarding fishing and tagging along hunting trips. I’m not sure whether I want to be defined by a term somebody else made up but I guess I do technically qualify as a “naturalist.” Interesting. We’ve had two “naturalist” encounters since leaving Fraser Island. We stayed at Tin Can Bay, a sleepy little town on an estuary and ended up feeding wild Australian humpback dolphins!! What luck! In the 1950s an injured dolphin nicknamed “Scar” turned up at the little seaside village and the community nursed him back to health. He then started bringing back members of his pod on a regular basis. Australian humpback dolphins are listed as being on the vulnerable list. They are an inshore species preferring tidal channels and estuaries and their primary threat is habitat destruction through poor water quality, development, noise pollution and disease from humans and domestic animals. A team of local volunteers at Tin Can bay work with The Department of Environment and Science to start a local initiative educating visitors about the dolphins plight and giving them a chance to get a close up look at them. We chatted with Bev and Liz, two long standing volunteers about the 2 dolphins who showed up for a free breakfast that morning - “Mystique” and “Patch”. It’s their hope to get a research centre up and running in their little Bay so they can raise more awareness to the plight of the Australian Humpback Dolphin. Our second wildlife encounter was in the impressive Eungella National Park inland from Mackay. I convinced Tony we’d detour inland to stay here in search of the elusive Platypus found in rivers in the area. We stayed at a place called “Platypus bushcamp” in the midst of Finch Hatton Gorge which neighbours the park. It was run by an eccentric wizened old fella named “Wazza”. It’s incredibly rustic - absolutely no frills here but charming nonetheless. Wazza told us he turned up 28 years ago, found the land and decided to stay on it. Little by little he got money from other campers and put in flushing toilets, rustic showers that open into the bush, paths to the platypus pools and a cleared area for campers and tents. We were nestled right against a crystal clear stream (very similar to NZ bush streams) in the rainforest and had the most delicious sleep in the cool evening air with the stream noise permeating our dreams. I left Tony to dinner duty that night after set up and waited silently on the banks of a pool that housed 2 platypus residents until long past dusk but to no avail. I was up at the crack of dawn sharing that little spot on the bank behind palm fronds with thousands of sandflies and mosquitoes ... but still nothing. After pack up we ventured up into Eungella National Park for a look around and found some in a decent sized stream beneath a bridge!! There were also plenty of turtles and a heap of pretty bird life. The kids and Tony got bored after the first 20 minutes but they all buggered off and left me to enjoy watching them and capturing some on film for the remainder of the hour. Platypus are strange and wondrous creatures. They are duck billed, beaver tailed, otter footed and a mammal that lays eggs!! When the first specimen of platypus was examined in 1799 by European naturalists they assumed it was an elaborate hoax and thought that different animals had been stitched together. Liam enjoyed learning that platypus have nasty spurs which on male platypus are venemous. Not lethal to humans but enough to incapacitate a human for quite some time. And that although platypus lay eggs they also milk feed their young! They don’t have teats but the milk is emitted through the pores of the skin on a platypus and gathers in grooves on its abdomen where the young lap it up. Incredible fascinating little creatures and I was so glad and privileged to witness them in their wild and natural habitat.