Monkey Mia Dolphins

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Monkey Mia is one of a few places in the world where a long-term relationship between a group of dolphins and humans has been established though daily feeding (Connor & Smolker, 1985; Smith et al., 2006b). Following initial interaction with a single dolphin in the 1960’s a group of seven dolphins was habituated (Orams, 1997) and by the 1980’s Monkey Mia had become a tourist destination based around the dolphin feeding interaction. Increasing tourist numbers resulted in welfare concerns and as a response the Australian government stationed rangers in the area to implement formal regulations governing the feeding interaction ( Smith et al., 2008, Smith et al., 2006a) . As the five dolphins that are currently in the feeding programme reach age