Monkey Mia History

Pre 20th Century

The Dutch explorers Dirk Hartog and Willem de Vlamingh were the first Europeans to land in the area, in 1616 and 1697, respectively. English explorer William Dampier spent a week examining Shark Bay in 1699. But it was the French, at the turn of the 19th century, who spent significant time exploring the area.

Around the 1850s commercial pearling began and this later resulted in a few small settlements being established on the Peron Peninsula, including what is now Monkey Mia.

Modern

Pearling ceased to become a viable operation in the early part of the 20th century; fishing soon became the most important industry. Subsequently, a cannery and processing factory was built at Monkey Mia in 1912.

In the 1960s fishermen began throwing fish overboard for the dolphins who would follow the boats to shore. Soon after, someone from the fishing camp began to feed the dolphins by hand. News of this spread and people began to arrive to watch this phenomenon. By 1985 an information centre had been set up and a few years later development began on tourist infrastructure, including roads and facilities. The waters around Monkey Mia were declared a National Marine Park in 1990. Monkey Mia and its environs are part of the tribal lands of the Yadgalah people; the Yadgalah Corporation owns 24% of the resort.

There has been some debate about how Monkey Mia got its name. What is undisputed is that 'mia' comes from the Aboriginal word for home or shelter, while it is widely accepted (among a number of theories) that 'monkey' refers to the schooner Monkey which landed there in 1834.