Rajah, Mila and Echo, Hillarys Boat Harbour, Sorrento, Western Australia
S 31° 49.321 E 115° 44.404
50J E 380758 N 6478600
A wishing well commemorating three popular bottle-nose dolphins which gave pleasure to hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Waymark Code: WMGHWB
Location: Western Australia, Australia
Date Posted: 03/10/2013
Views: 3
Over the years the bottle-nose dolphins Rajah, Mila and Echo had spent some time at Atlantis, an aquatic park near Yanchep north of Perth, where unsuccessful attempts were made to rehabilitate them to their normal life at sea.
Following their re-location to The Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA) at Hillarys, the dolphins were endeared to many hundreds of thousands of Australian and overseas visitors – many of whom could frolic and swim with them in their penned enclosure.
Rajah, Mila and Echo died mysteriously at Hillarys Boat Harbour in December 1999 in a case never solved by police.
The idea for a community wishing well was conceived shortly after their deaths. The wishing well became a ten year joint project by the Rotary Clubs of Hillarys and Wanneroo, and since March 2010 every time a $2 coin is inserted in the wishing well the larger-than-life dolphin sculpture does a good turn – a complete 360 degree rotation.
The net proceeds from the wishing well are now being distributed to local and other community projects identified by the two Rotary Clubs.
The dolphin sculpture was created by Joan Walsh-Smith and Charlie Smith who were commissioned to sculpt the piece in memory of the much-loved trio.
The wishing well was made possible by the combined effort of the Rotary Clubs of Hillarys and Wanneroo supported by Lotterywest, the city of Joondalup and the Government of Western Australia, with special thanks to the local community and many businesses for their generosity.
The 4m-high dolphins, which sit atop a wishing well, rotate 360 degrees with the insertion of a $2 coin or two $1 coins, with money raised going to community projects.
The one-tonne sculpture, crafted at the Smiths’ Gidgegannup studio, went by truck to Willetton late in 2009 for fitting to the wishing well, which incorporates advanced electro-mechanics.
The Rotary Dolphin Community Wishing Well was officially opened by His worship Troy Pickard, Mayor of the City of Joondalup, on May 30th 2010.