Rockhampton Dolphins divers play with the local mammalian inhabitants. (Chris Atchison/ITD)

PERTH, AUSTRALIA -- Just outside of Perth on Australia’s west coast, there are two groups of mammals floating around, looking to play.
 Those on top of the water are human—tourists who have come from all over the world to share an experience with the second group of mammals under the water—dolphins. 

The bottlenose dolphins that live in the waters just off of Rockingham are wild, never fed by humans and have very distinctive personalities.

As the crew at Rockingham Dolphins, a local dolphin swim tour operator, point out, dolphins are highly intelligent animals that are often averse to human contact and can be as moody as the humans who come to see them.  At times they are incredibly curious, at other times extremely timid.
 On this very early morning, however, we happen to get lucky.

Dolphins at play in the waters near Perth. (Chris Atchison/ITD)

The sight of about 50 tourists slipping into the water seems awkward at best, but our guides quickly pull us into formation in a human chain, linked t ogether arm-on-belt of the person in front of us. Our wetsuits keep us buoyant and our guides are equipped with James Bond-style water scooters to jet us around, no swimming required.

Another guide, the luckiest of all, powers deep under water with his scooter and looks for our Bottlenose friends. Within minutes the dolphins come out to play.

They spiral up towards the surface just an arms length away from the excited tourists.

They whiz and twist at unreal speeds, almost as if they too are equipped with propellers powering them through the water. One decides to show off and shoots out of the water like a missile. “Bet you guys can’t do that,” he probably thinks. Or was that a she?

Our guides place us under strict orders never to touch the dolphins. They are wild, potentially dangerous and aren’t used to humans trying to make physical contact.

But just as we think our experience has ended, more dolphins appear to challenge our swimming skills. Their high-pitched squeaks are easy to hear and all of us are tempted to dive deeper into their world for an even closer experience.

 As they turn inside and out, the dolphins seem to make eye contact as if to say a brief hello, investigate these other strange creatures that don’t seem very capable in the water, and then jet off, bored by our lack of interaction. 

Divers interact with their Bottlenose friends. (Chris Atchison/ITD)

 As we speed away the dolphins start surfing in the wake of our boat as if to ask us to come back and play some more. We all wish we could.