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Australian Animal wisdom dates back to the dream time of the Aborigines. The sight of a whale or a dolphin in times of stress or problems bought joy to Aboriginal tribes.

Circling Australia, there are four main points of viewing from the mainland which have always been noteworthy to local tribes, Monkey Mia in the west, Byron Bay in the east, in the south is Wilson's Promontory and in the far north Bamaga, however Australia is a blessed country with the entire coastline dominated by the presence of dolphins and whales. To the Wurunjeri people from south-eastern Australia, the dolphin was deemed sacred, with the tribe co-operating and helping the dolphins by only taking fish which the dolphins did not need. The people of the Wurunjeri tribe would also consult the dolphins for answers and insights on important tribal discussions by the use of telepathy, and the tribe believed that the spirits of their dead would transform into dolphin bodies and remain off shore. This would help and guide the tribal family members on land. To kill or hunt dolphins was always forbidden by the Wurunjeri people, by doing this the Executioner (Gornge) the feather-footed man would would be called.

We are amazed at the sight of a dolphins not being afraid of humans, but the dolphin is truly not frightened of humans. The ocean-going boats of the seas and competitions held when boats are under full sail reveal a dolphin is never far away. Many medical and recovery stories have evolved all over the world from the benefits of the dolphin.

In mythology, the dolphin is not yet created, yet it was, before man and lived in cities along with mortals. Eventually exchanging the land for the sea, and developed in the form of fishes, but the human deeds and human thoughts are preserved in dolphins, the gift of human kindness.

Nature has given the dolphin a gift which the philosophers of the world has searched for over centuries. The dolphin does not treat friendship as an advantage, the dolphin gives with its heart unconditionally. A friend to all, is the dolphin and does not ask for any help from man and yet it has helped man.

Many Aboriginal tribes around Australia fished for their daily meals with the dolphins' help and the practice continues today. The tribal members believed the reason the dolphins were so helpful was because the human and the dolphin shared a common ancestor. The cultural hero "Gowonda" who, along with his hunting dogs, would be transformed into a dolphin and helped other Aborigine tribal members catch fish. The dolphins would drive the fish towards the shoreline and the awaiting nets, the men then would show their appreciation and gratitude by the gift of mullet to their obliging helpers. Soon after European settlement to these areas, Europeans would hide and secretly watch this gift of fishing between the Aboriginals and the dolphins, slowly learning the whistles and sounds the tribes used to communicate with the dolphins. They then would imitate the sounds, and when dolphins approached the European settlers would kill and eat the dolphin. Soon the dolphins disappeared.

With the present day environmental awareness the dolphin has arrived back from the brink of extinction, whales and dolphins are now the symbol of freedom around the world and in Australia.

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