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I’m wryly amused by my collection of wildlife photos from around Shark Bay: plenty of disappearing tricks but not much use for species identification or proof of viewing. Fortunately, my experiences at Shark Bay and Monkey Mia were far better than my photos so I didn’t waste that much time on the latter. Yes, Monkey Mia is a touristy place and several people who I’d chatted to along the road were giving it a wide berth. Their loss, I think. The wildlife opportunities are plentiful, much more than the dolphin feeding, and it is possible to have a slice of Shark Bay all to yourself. I hired a kayak for a day and spent 5 hours paddling along the coast, accompanied by a variety of sharks and rays for much of the trip. The sharks, only about one metre in length, were what the locals call Nervous Sharks, which is very apt. They are one of 28 shark species found in Shark Bay and it was not unusual to have several circling the kayak at any one time. Eventually one would dare to swim close only to dart off with a flick of its tail. The shark was gone, zig-zagging and giggling like a silly over-excited child, before the eddy even had a chance to form. The Giant Shovel-Nosed Ray was much less interested in the kayak and, as you can tell from the photos, equally hard to capture on camera. Other viewing delights from the kayak, and the boat trip the next day, were Cow-Tailed Rays, numbfish – large disc-like rays that I came across in groups of 8 and overlapping each other on the sandy surface – loggerhead and green turtles, cobia fish and dugongs. The dugongs are not found close to shore hence the boat trip: I was really keen to see a dugong. But if I had to choose between the two activities, I would choose the kayak every time as you just can’t beat being up close and personal with sharks and rays.