River of Life

Looking out from the Museum you will often see the most playful of the Swan River’s inhabitants, the bottle-nosed dolphins. It is not uncommon to see a pod of them leaping around ships as they enter and leave the harbour. Also seen, but much more rarely, is the subantarctic fur seal. They tend to follow schools of fish upstream and have even been seen in the Canning River, which joins the Swan at Canning Bridge.

Did you know that the Swan even has its own shark? Shy, only rarely seen, the Swan River Whaler is a small shark that inhabits the lower reaches of the Swan.

The West Australian Seahorse is a very special fish to West Australia because it is an endemic - found only on the west coast, from Cape Leeuwin to Shark Bay. During the summer breeding season, this species loves muddy, silty habitats – places like the Swan River Estuary and Cockburn Sound. It usually lives in water less than 20 metres deep and can be found holding onto sponges, sea-squirts and seaweed.