Science

Year 10 Environmental Science Seal and Dolphin Swim Excursion Friday 10th November. 

On Friday the 10th of November, our second group of Year 10 Environmental Science students travelled down to Queenscliff to go swim with dolphins, seals, and a range of other sea species. We went through the safety procedures and put our snorkelling equipment on (which is always a flattering look), and then made our way out onto the boat. 

We were exceptionally lucky with the weather being a calm 30-degree Spring day, and the water was clear and very refreshing especially with our 5mm wetsuits on. The first stop was at Pope’s Eye, which is an incomplete fort that was built in the 1880’s to protect Port Phillip Bay from invading boats. It is now a haven for many fish species, coral, Australasian Gannet’s and also fur seals who venture there to lay on the rocks. We saw plenty of these animals up very close (sometimes a bit close for comfort with some of the seals!) before getting back onto the boat. 

We then went to a place called Chinaman’s Hut and got to explore where all the male seals like to hang out. Though there were many big male seals, there was also lots of baby seals that loved to play. There was hardly any current which is rare for that part of the bay, so we were able to spend a long time duck-diving and trying to get the seals to copy our actions underwater. We saw some dolphins in the distance on the way back in but none came close to our boat. 

Everyone who experienced the day were well aware of how fortunate they were to have such an amazing experience so close to home! The crew at Sea All Dolphin Swims were fantastic as always and I highly recommend giving them a visit if any of the above interest you! Tim Hebbard