Life, Love and Dolphins: Our First Blog Post
Ahoy and welcome to our blog!
This is one of the many things we’ve been meaning to do for a long time—but we usually prefer hanging out with dolphins! Now that our season has just finished up, we’ve got a bit more time to sit down and write down our dolphiney thoughts.
What’s This Blog All About?
From here on, we’ll be updating this blog pretty regularly with:
Dolphin sightings & stories from the water
Interesting info about their environment
Trip reports and behind-the-scenes chaos
Local tips about Port Stephens
That’s what we love about our tours—every single day is different!
Will we find 10 dolphins or 1,000?
Will there be whales out and about?
Will cheeky seals try to keep up with the dolphins?
If you're keen to see what’s going down on our tours, this is the place to check it out!
Port Stephens Love Letter
We’re also going to be writing about the beautiful place we call home—Port Stephens! Honestly, it’s one of the most epic places in Australia. It’s insanely beautiful and there’s just so much to do.
We’ll be sharing:
Cool places to stay
Yummy food to eat
Adventures to try while you’re here
Whether you’re visiting for a tour or a full-blown holiday, we’ve got you covered!
Meet the Crew (aka the Dolfamily)
Key team members will take turns writing this blog. That means you might get:
Ramblings from me – (Adam) owner of Dolphin Swim Australia
Dolphin science from the one and only Dr David Scott (who literally wrote a book about dolphins- it’s called ‘A Book About Dolphins’… classic!)
Cool vibes from young Blake – our newest team member who soaks up dolphin info like a sea-sponge and is just like me, but smarter…
Shannon, one of our OG’s who lives and breathes Dolphin Swim. Another dolphin whizz who just loves what he does!
Joel- A one of a kind, half human, half dolphin morph- known affectionately as the ‘Joelphin’. He communicates mostly via echolocation, so the blog writing might be a challenge!
Geri- The Hungarian Hawkeye! He can spot a dolphin from a kilometre away, but more importantly- he’s an international award winning underwater photographer! His photos are amazing- nearly all of our dolphin photos are taken by Geri!
We honestly reckon we’ve got the best team in the world—our little dolfamily!
A few of the Dolfamily members on a glorious afternoon!
Okay… Who Am I?
I probably should start this whole thing by introducing myself properly.
My name’s Adam, and I run Dolphin Swim Australia with my wife, Ellie Wiltshire. I’ve been along for the DSA ride since it began—15 years ago!
I was lucky enough to grow up on beaches and boats and started freediving with my dad when I was about 8. My dad (an electrician) found out about Dolphin Swim Australia while working on a jobsite with a builder—Andrew Parker, one of the original creators of DSA. Dad introduced us (I was around 17), I showed up to do some volunteer work on the tours—and never left!
Since then I’ve completed a Bachelor of Environmental/Marine Science, became a PADI Divemaster, and recently got certified as a Molchanovs Freediving Instructor. Ellie and I have owned the business for the last five years.
Not gonna lie—part of the reason I was so enthusiastic about the job was because I wanted to impress Ellie…
It worked. We’re married now! 💍
She’s a smart cookie and a seriously hard worker. She studied Business Management and helps take care of all the businessy, social media-y, behind-the-scenes type stuff. But honestly—working on the boat together is my absolute favourite thing ever.
We love a good adventure and try to spend as much time as we can out in the sunshine—chasing waves, boating, spearfishing, vanning up and down the coast, or galivanting overseas during the off-season.
When it’s on, it’s on—this is one of the coolest jobs in the world, but it definitely keeps us busy!
We’re also fans of a good DIY house reno. No idea why we keep torturing ourselves with them, but hey… it’s kinda fun. Kinda.
Nothing makes me prouder than being on the water with my two loves! Eddie showing off his signature scrunch face… How good are film photos!
Meet the Littlest Dolphin Lover
Speaking of being busy—this season, we had a new little calf join our family pod:
Eddie Blue Wiltshire.
We reckon he’s even cuter than a baby dolphin—but maybe we’re biased! He’s been coming out on the occasional tour since he was just a month or two old.
And get this: every single tour Eddie has been on has been absolutely epic. Like, next-level stuff.
Eddie Blue brings the vibes, man. I think the dolphins are just as curious about human babies as we are about theirs!
Start them young. Lessons from the legendary Captain Frank Future!
Why We Do What We Do
At the end of the day, this is what we’re about:
Epic, ethical, life-changing human-dolphin swim interactions—and a whole lotta fun.
For me, it’s not just about the dolphins. It’s about meeting a new group of people every day and helping them tick off a lifelong dream.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy keeping up with this blog, and I hope to meet you on board sometime soon.
Smooth sailing,
Adam
Dolphin Swim Australia