To sea to see dolphins

I'm not completely sure what constitutes being at sea if I'm totally honest; how far off shore does one need to be for that phrase to be correct? I don't know, however let's just say being on a boat on salt water is being at sea for the purposes of my ultra-clever title.

But what was I doing there? Beginning my much-desired and sought-after pirate-life? Embarking upon an epic voyage over the horizon west to a distant land and a new life? Or perhaps was I looking for a glimpse of dolphins, a relaxing day and some fresh air?

Port River

The tidal estuary has been used as a shipping channel since 1836 and provides access to Port Adelaide. In the early days it provided vital access for the European colonists to bring in goods and to this day is used extensively by pleasure craft and commercial shipping bringing bulk-goods into and out of South Australia. Things like grain and scrap metals head outwards and everything else comes inwards from new vehicles, to those gigantic turbines that harvest wind for power generation.

The river extends from the ocean past the outer harbour through to the inner harbour of Port Adelaide through to the man-made salt-water lakes known as West Lakes, a popular residential area set around the lakes. Along its banks industrial, commercial and quasi-military facilities can be found including power stations, cement works, boat builders who built and maintain the Collins Class submarines and are currently constructing the state-of-the-art Hobart Class air warfare destroyers.

The Port River is a vital link from the open sea to these facilities and the inner harbour and Adelaide has long-relied upon it but it's a natural estuary and is also important for other reasons, more natural reasons.

Port River dolphins

Who doesn't love dolphins right? Here we love our bottlenose dolphins so much that back in 2005 we created a sanctuary for them covering 118 square kilometres of area around the Port River and Barker Inlet.

It was found the heavy industrial and commercial use of the estuary was affecting the dolphins health and something needed to be done to preserve them and their environment. It's interesting to note that these dolphins were the first known metropolitan group found in the world with some thirty dolphins living permanently in the Port River. Fortunately their condition is improving, but slowly. Commercial shipping and speeding recreational boats are their main threat but with the sanctuary came improvements.

One cool story is of a particular dolphin called Billie that was kept in captivity to recover from injury; it was in captivity where she learned to tail walk. When she was released back into the river she continued to do so and actually taught other dolphins to do the same, which they continue to do still. Come on, that's cool right?

Of course where there's humans there's bad humans and back in 2015 a dolphin called Blaze [they are all identifiable and named by the marine biologists] was found dead, shot by a shotgun. A sad indictment of human kind and a favour I'd gladly repay the perpetrator. Largely the dolphins are well protected and cared for though.

The dolphin explorer boat moored beside the iconic Port Adelaide lighthouse disembarking passengers.

Port River dolphin cruise

The dolphins can be seen from the shore although it can be difficult to find a suitable access-point due to the commercial and industrial sites and so people take to the water. One is not always guaranteed of seeing a dolphin on the cruise, they're not trained animals after all, but it's a good bet you'll get a glimpse and if lucky will see them tail walking or jumping out of the bow wave's of moving vessels.

There's a dolphin cruise available which is how most people get out on the water. It's a fairly large boat which one boards in Port Adelaide, the inner harbour, and which travels out to the open sea just near the outer harbour. Along the way one can enjoy lunch and drinks or just a snack, sit back to look for dolphins and listen to the commentary which talks about the river and wildlife, the dolphins, and other interesting facts like the boat grave yard and historical use of the river.

The boat has a couple of inner decks and an upper which is open-air, but covered, and there's access to the bow and stern so one can move about freely and if the weather is inclement one can sit inside and still have a great view of things passing by.

The iconic Port Adelaide lighthouse - First lit in 1869. This lighthouse was made in England and shipped in pieces to Adelaide and first stood at the mouth of the Port River. It has been moved to stand now at the end of Commercial Road, Port Adelaide.

The river is home to many commercial and industrial enterprises which have tipped the balance away from nature and the dolphins however the creation of the sanctuary and careful monitoring of their health is improving their chances of survival. From top left - Grain ships loading, inner-harbour grain conveyors, outer-harbour cranes and conveyor and one of the power stations lower left.

The dolphins are notoriously hard to catch on film, especially for knuckleheads like me who are terrible photographers. They are fast-moving and one never knows where they will pop up. I did my best with the skills and equipment I had to hand. Below are a few images I captured - My apology for not being a better photographer.

There's one of the little buggers popping out of the bow wave of that tug boat. Note the warehouse and stacks of shipping containers in the background and one of the legit, and super-powerful tug boats that operate in the Port River and harbours.

There's actually three in this image above, two you can see clearly and there's a baby one almost submerged. If only they stayed still I might have gotten a good shot.

I took this one hanging over the side of the boat. The dolphin was riding the bow wave which was really cool. It was hard to shoot though and some little kid's hair kept getting in the way. Bloody kids.

I can't recall how many dolphins there were all up on the day but I'd say probably twenty or so. Some were really close and some further out but all were really cool and quite visible, if not photographable. There's something pretty special about these things; they are intelligent and funny and tend to like people - If only we didn't mess up their home so bad huh? Poor buggers.

I've been whale watching on the east coast of Australia and that was such an amazing thing so if you get the chance to do it you have to jump at it. This was very cool too though and the buzz was the same. Watching these dolphins love life so much, find simple enjoyment racing through the water and playing in the bow waves...It's something special I guess, at least I think so.

We made it out to the mouth of the estuary and then turned around to head back to Port Adelaide. On the way there however we passed close to the shipyards where the submarines and destroyers are constructed which was cool. One will never get a look inside without clearance so it was cool to see the destroyer being constructed.

An air warfare destroyer in construction. See that massive shed? Well it probably doesn't look so big but it's actually huge! The destroyer and the submarines fit easily inside.

A bite to eat

Like I said, there's food available on the cruise although I only ordered a coffee...And if you believe that you're gullible AF!

I ordered coffee and a donut as I'd planned to grab a bite later on when back from my epic sea voyage and didn't want to ruin my appetite. The coffee was good though and the donut, cinnamon and sugar, was also...OK, I had two donuts, but they were both so small!

Sitting there sipping the coffee and brushing cinnamon and sugar off myself whilst spotting dolphins and breathing the fresh salty air was really relaxing. It was a cool day, cold really, but I sat outside and just enjoyed the brisk air and motion of the boat. The day started cloudy but cleared nicely and overall I'd have to say it was a great cruise.

Before long the ship pulled into the dock and I disembarked feeling a little hungry so it was off to the pub! Sitting on a boat watching dolphins, drinking coffee and eating donuts is hungry work you know! Anyway, I thought I'd share my meal with you.

Commercial Hotel, Port Adelaide. The site of 'the great after dolphin cruise lunch episode'.

Here's the arancini balls I had. Risotto filled with roasted pumpkin, feta cheese, spring onion, peas and mozzarella cheese topped with Napolitano sauce. To die for y'all.

I also ordered a four cheese pizza topped with fresh basil. I was feeling quite peckish after my long sea voyage so...Yeah, the pizza happened too.

Now before you ask me where the food actually is let me tell you...It was in my stomach before I remembered to take a photo of it for this blog so...Oops. Maybe next time. It was good though and a pretty decent way to finish off what was a nice little cruise.

The cost of the cruise is $35AUD for adults and I have no clue what kids tickets are because I haven't got any. One can book the sit-down meal which costs additional although there's a café on board that serves all sorts of fare like fish and chips, burgers, hot dogs, toasted sandwiches, baguettes, cakes coffee and alcohol. You won't go hungry.

So that's about it folks. The Port River dolphin cruise. I'd say it's worth doing although you'd want to hope the weather is nice I guess. There's no guarantee one will see dolphins and even if they appear it could be a fleeting glimpse only. Mostly they say the dolphins will make an appearance though however even if they don't it's a nice cruise and a good way to spend a couple hours.

Thanks for looking at my post, I appreciate it, and any comments you may like to leave.