| Gustasp Irani
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| | resting upon the seabed and admiring the
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| My first glimpse of Tangalooma's famous
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| | new marine ecosystem of colourful coral
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| wild dolphins was from the boat that
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| | and tropical fish that had evolved around
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| ferried us to Moreton Island 75 minutes
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| | these ghostly galleons. I felt my pulse
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| from Brisbane, Australia. They arched
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| | start to quicken when Lea, our dive
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| their black silken bodies out of the
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| | leader and my diving buddy, led us into
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| water as though to greet us as we docked
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| | heart of one of these wrecks. Sensing my
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| at the island's main pier. I was down at
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| | apprehension, she held my hand while we
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| the pier later that night for an up close
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| | swam through an underwater passageway. I
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| and personal meeting with these friendly
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| | emerged from the ordeal with the sense of
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| sea mammals; a group of eight that
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| | elation that comes from having confronted
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| frolicked in the floodlit waters as they
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| | my worst fears and survived.
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| waited for the party to start.
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| | The rest of the dive was a visual
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|
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| | delight. Soft coral swayed to the rhythm
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| The wild dolphins that visited this
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| | of the currents while brilliantly hued
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| little outcrop every day of the year to
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| | fish in amazing shapes and sizes waltzed
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| bum a snack and say hello to us, their
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| | around us in this bizarre underwater
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| distant cousins that lived on the land,
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| | wonderland where life flourished in the
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| was only a fraction of the thrills that
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| | midst of ancient wrecks.
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| Tangalooma had to offer its guests. Over
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| | That evening I slowed down the pace of
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| two days in this island paradise, I would
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| | the adventure and lazed around in the
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| snorkel with schools of colourful fish,
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| | shallow of one of the many swimming pools
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| scuba diving within shipwrecks, ride All
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| | that dot the property. I lay in the water
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| Terrain Vehicle (ATV) across sandy banks
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| | and congratulated myself for following up
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| and even go tobogganing down desert
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| | on the lead I found on I was browsing
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| dunes.
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| | through the site looking for something in
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| Indeed, still recall the moment I lay
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| | India - is the leading travel portal in
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| flat on my stomach on a plank at the
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| | the country - when I noticed that it was
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| summit of a sand dune and looked down the
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| | offering a close encounter with wild
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| treacherous plunge ahead of me. The
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| | dolphins package in Australia. Before I
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| moment of panic, however, had passed. I
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| | knew it I was hooked; curiosity turned to
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| had already committed to the tobogganing
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| | desire and desire to compulsion. I had to
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| run and focused my attention on doing it
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| | get to Tangalooma. Now that I was here,
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| right. I grasped the front of the plank
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| | it was all promised it would be and more.
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| and lifted it off the sand and made sure
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| | Later that evening I was down by the
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| that my elbows and feet were well up in
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| | floodlit pier to interact with the
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| the air so that they did not get scraped
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| | Tangalooma bottlenose dolphins once more.
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| as I raced down the dune.
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| | The ranger attached to the Dolphin
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| 'Let it rip?' Alcester, our Tangalooma
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| | Research Centre assured us that the
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| Wild Dolphin Resort tour manager and
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| | feeding ceremony accounted for only
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| guide queried. 'Let it rip!' I responded.
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| | around 20% of the dolphins' diet and that
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| The next moment I was tearing down the
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| | they had to depend on their own hunting
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| face of the dune. I don't know what
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| | instincts to catch fish in the open seas.
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| speeds I reached, but it seemed like over
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| | According to her the contact between
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| 100 kmp and with the ground whizzing
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| | dolphin and humans on this island goes
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| under me, no more than a foot from my
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| | back a long way to the time when the two
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| face, it was both terrifying and
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| | cooperated to catch fish. The dolphins
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| exhilarating. When eventually I came to a
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| | would herd schools of fish towards the
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| complete stop at the bottom of the dune I
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| | shore where the aborigine would catch
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| stayed still on the plank, savouring the
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| | them in their nets. Once the catch was
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| thrill of the ride. A little later I was
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| | hauled in, the local fishermen would
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| trudging up the dune for one more zany
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| | throw back a part of it into the water
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| run down its slope. It was the
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| | for the dolphins to feed on.
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| culminating highlight of the island
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| | The next morning I shifted back into high
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| safari which started with a drive through
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| | gear when I mounted an all terrain
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| dense native forests that emerged onto a
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| | vehicles (ATV), a modified four-wheel
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| bleak desert in the middle of the
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| | motorcycle with a souped up engine, and
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| outcrop.
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| | went speeding down a deserted beach
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| Back at the resort I checked in at the
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| | before heading for a dusty rollercoaster
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| resort's dive unit and kitted up - tanks,
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| | ride over sand dunes that waved over the
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| wetsuit, the works - for an underwater
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| | island. It was a fitting finale to an
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| adventure. A little boat ferried us to
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| | adventure that lifted me to zany heights
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| the dive site at the far end of the
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| | and gifted me with peaceful and quiet
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| island where the rusted superstructure of
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| | moments; an adventure during which I had
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| sunken vessels spooked the sky above the
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| | the good fortune to be part, if only
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| water. Soon I was swimming with fellow
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| | briefly, of the legendary bonding between
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| divers around battered hulls of ships
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| | humans and dolphins.
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