Diving with a Dugong

[Krakenn]

Hi guys, I just got back from a week away in Shark Bay, Western Australia in a fairly remote Cattle Station on the coast called Tamala Station. Sorry no tourist accommodation here you camp on the beach and your on your own.

Well last Saturday I took the kids out, daughter 7 and son 9 in the dingy into the Estuary and had a great dive with a wild Dugong. It was such a thrill to see my daughter describe the animal as she threw on her little Oceanic fins and mask and dived in while im looking for the brown overcoats!! - Please god please... phew..

Well it was really nice to skin dive with this sea cow if only for ten minutes and realise how at one the animal was with nature. Im afraid I didnt take the camera so you'll just have to trust me on this as we were diving in 2/3 metres of crystal clear water. After a while showing off the dugong just looked at us and then moved off to another area and the kids were so excited as its huge tail kicked up the sand on the botom as it moved away then rose to the surface for a quick breathe before diving again.

What was so beautiful about this dive was the kids skin diving with an animal I have only every seen in the wild a handful of times and while only a having a relatively short time with the dugong to see the wonderment on the kids faces was something that made this old (40) fella rather humbled and I had to share it with you. Especially my daughters comments about how it looked like a seal with a whales tail. LOL!

Anyway, I wanted to share this with you and our skin dives in the World Heritage area of Shark Bay, WA.

All the best people.

Kraks

[navyhmc]

Sounds like a fun time. Is this a local spot?

[CaribbeanDiver]

things we enjoy become even more enjoyable when we can share it with our children. Kraks, you are a good man to offer this chance for your children to witness how life should be lived.
nothing is more important than our family.

[BouzoukiJoe A.K.A. wrecker130 AKA Chuck Norris AKA joeforbroke (banned)]

That's awesome! I hope I am so fortunate.

[gibson1525]

sounds like a cool experience. i've got to be honest, i had to look up what a dugong was, i had no idea.

[Silverlode]

Wow! That's such an unforgettable experience, and with the children as well. Hopefully, one day, I'd be able to get the children interested in diving. The older one (12) is afraid to dive because of sharks! The younger one (9) is keen, but she's really really petite; I don't think she'd be able to handle the equipments. Never thought about skin diving though.. will have to explore that.

[rach]

i also had to look it up...

but it sounds like what i hope to share with my family someday...thanks for sharing!

[kingfish]

Dugongs are amazing creatures and i have been lucky enough to see one in the wild myself.
Unfortunatly i wasnt able to get in the water with it but it was great anyway.
I cant wait to enjoy those sorts of moments with my kids in the future.

Jas.

[skippy11]

I had to look it up too, but what an incredible experience to share w/ your children!! Thanks for sharing.

[Steve Scuba]

Wow, what are the chances that I read this article this morning because I didn't know what a Dugong was, and I wanted to find out. Then, as I'm taking a sort of vocabulary test for fun, that was one of the words!

BTW, if you're a geek like me, and like to take vocabulary tests for fun, try this one out: FreeRice