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The destination was Rockingham City (I think there definition of city is a little more fluid than ours - it's a city when the population is above 25'000) where we were due to join our boat, we eventually found the jetty where it was berthed.
On arrival we got kitted out with wet suites and goggles/Snorkal with safety briefings being given and split into three diving groups- then we had a session on shark deterrents which practically meant that for every diving group had to consist of a lead person and the rear person who was fitted with a shark deterrent around their ankle with a six foot lead - the essential thing that I kept on forgetting, after being selected as the rear person in my group (Shark bate) was that this device created a electric shock if you touched the lead, I not only constantly shocked my self but on a couple of occasions I managed to make this a group experience.
I must mention that after the briefings on Sharks one young german girl in our group, who was looking really scared and quite pale at this stage turned around to us in almost a call for help and said "we only have rivers in Germany" almost as a plea that she was not used to swimming with sharks, and could she be excussed.
Despite these set backs we were called out in our groups to the steps at the back of the boat with the leader having a hand held propulsion unit we were lead out with each of us holding the belt of the next person to avoid any splashing that could scare the dolphins.
A "play" diver went out on her on to interact and play with the dolphine pods beneath us, which allowed us to get really close to them with great views as they weaved and turned around our feet - a real wow factor.
For the next hour the groups rotated in turns between diving and going back on board. On the way back the captain created huge waves by moving at high speed in a circle which attracted the pods to serv in our wake.
The final bonus was that they allowed us to take out the propulsion units on our own which was great as I felt as if I was in a James bond film, one girl who inadvertently pointed it down disapeared beneath the waves as it took her down towards the sea bed - only have to be rescued by one of the team!
Clare and I went to one of the restaurants afterwards which was immediatly adjacement to the sea to ponder on the great experience we had just had with wild bottle nose dolphins.
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