Rotary Dolphin Community Wishing Well Print Page

The dolphin sculpture was created by Joan Walsh-Smith and Charlie Smith who were commissioned to sculpt the piece in memory of bottle-nose dolphins Rajah, Mila and Echo who died in 1999.

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.

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Dedication