Leaving the shallows - Lucy Daniels

The McGraths have sailed on from the Marquesas - where we last heard from Jody - and their next port of call is Hervey Bay on the coast of Queensland! Jody and her family are all looking forward to seeing land again, and to spotting some of the many types of dolphin who swim in the waters off the bay. Jody's twin brothers are excited about the other marine life too: dugongs, rays, turtles and seabirds - Hervey Bay has something for everyone!

Based at a place called Ocean Point. Jody's parents are thrilled to see the dolphin sanctuary there - where the dolphins come and go as they want. Jody forms a special friendship with an Indo-Pacific dolphin called Mercury. But out on a coastal walk, she spots another tourist operation 'Golden Sands' - billed to be like Ocean Point, but clearly not meeting the same rigid safety regulations. There's litter everywhere, and tourists are encouraged to wade through water to feed the dolphins - which Jody knows only too well leads to disease, and sometimes death among the poor creatures! Only when Mercury contracts pneumonia do the authorities take any notice, though, and only with Jody's help, do they put Golden Sands out of business, for good . . .