Amazing Sea Life

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[youtube=PoWeFtn1gCE][youtube=i2Nt5lYSvpo]

There's no breakfast for the wicked. If you want to swim with the dolphins in Kaikoura, you can either start at 05:30 or 08:30 in the morning. After this, they have a sleep (they sleep in the daytime to save energy), and after that, they are left alone.

So, as this is one of my lifetime goals, I’ll make an exception and will get up before 8 o’clock so that I can jump into the cold Pacific Ocean for a swim with these amazing creatures. With just seconds to spare, I park my home near the pick-up point and join the group. Interestingly, the vast majority of swimmers are North European - Danes, Germans and Swedes being the largest groups. There’s a limit to the number of bodies in the water near to the dolphins, so the bulk of the group will stay on the boats and watch from there. I booked early, so get a wetsuit and a seat perched precariously on the back of the boat.

After a briefing, we get into our gear and transfer to the boat. Conditions today are slight, meaning only a few of us are expected to be sea sick. Buckets are provided for all of us just in case. Once out of the harbour, it does seem rougher than it looked. The 3 boats we have are small, each taking 16 passengers, with just 18 of us going in the water. After half an hour or so, someone spots a fin, and the 3 boats change direction towards what they hope will be a group (a pod) of dolphins. We are in luck - it’s a mega-pod, and as we can see about 50 dolphins on the surface, there are probably 300 there (5 are under water while 1 is surfacing).

The swimmers get ready, and as soon as the propellers have stopped, the ships horn sounds, and in we go. We are under strict instructions to slip into the water gently, but to be as noisy as possible once in, and to duck dive and swim in circles as much as possible. In this way, we may attract the dolphins who are curious creatures. There is no guarantee of course as these are completely wild animals and not trained to do tricks or to pander to our wishes. Let’s see what happens.

My first reaction is shock. This is simply a reaction to the water - I’m so glad we have the wetsuits on, but the water is still ‘refreshing’. My second reaction is one of disbelief. Here I am in the sea surrounded by hundreds of dolphins who don’t seem the slightest bit concerned about my less than streamlined shape nor my singing. They just keep on swimming by, with a few taking a quick turn to circle me just for the fun of it. I tried to turn with them, but they are so fast, you can’t match their agility. Making eye contact is fantastic though - it’s pretty close to communication. In general, I have to conclude that wild dolphins are not so good as photographic models. I had a one-time underwater camera with me, but every time a dolphin approached out of the murky waters, I’d raise my camera, and try to get the dolphin in the viewfinder (forgetting of course that I had a face mask on) and by the time I was ready to press the shutter, the dolphin had completely vanished. I tried after a while to take shots without looking, and we’ll have to see if any came out at all. The water was not clear at all, probably because of the mass movement of boats, humans and the sleek dolphins.

Our crew called us out after 5 minutes in order to move our location, then the process was repeated. This happened 4 times, so we were probably in the water between 20 minutes and half an hour in total, and funnily enough, as time went on, the exhilaration numbed our senses and I think we would all have been happy to have stayed in the water for another hour, without feeling the cold at all.

Hot chocolate and ginger biscuits were handed out, then the race was on to get out of the wetsuits and into dry clothes without a changing room. For the North Europeans this was not an issue, but some of the non-swimmers from Japan had to be ushered onto the bridge so that the captain could give them a long and riveting lecture about the different clouds to be seen in the area, until we were all decent.

We then had a chance to take photos of the mega-pod as we headed back to shore, which was ideal, as I don’t think any of us will have any photos worth looking at from our time in the water. These dusky dolphins are quite small, but very energetic, and they genuinely seemed to enjoy playing with the boat, swimming over to us and riding the bow wave. A few performed summersaults in the air or flip-over leaps, but without advanced notice, I don’t think I caught these on film. I have taken some video footage though and will try to upload this here.

Our boat took a brief detour via a rock outcrop where some seals were basking in the sun. As our guide pointed out, these animals have an incredible ability to make any surface look comfortable, and although this outcrop was quite jagged, they still looked quite at home on it. Again, I have attempted to video the seals, albeit from a boat that refuses to stand still. Incidentally, the white stuff that covers parts of the rock outcrop is not paint.

I got chatting with a Danish family who lived in Gentofte (a suburb of Copenhagen that I lived in for 2 weeks when I first moved out there), and seemed to make quite an impression on their 11 year old son who couldn’t believe that an ‘old Englishman’ who hadn’t lived there for 25 years could still come up with a few phrases in Danish. He really enjoyed our simple conversations, and later on, when I bumped into the family on the plane to Singapore, the class-room sessions continued much to everyone’s amusement.

Back on dry land, with a hot brunch inside me, it was off to a car park. According to one of the Dolphin Encounter guides, the car park at the end of the peninsular is Kaikoura’s top tourist spot for 2 reasons. First of all, it’s free, and secondly, it’s a place where wild seals often come ashore to rest after 2 weeks at sea. I was in luck as there was room for me to park my palace, and 3 seals were on the rocks, adjacent to the car park. It’s easy to miss these animals - they blend in so well with the rocks when both are dry, and if they are resting, they stay still, so you could easily trip over one if they didn’t rear up and snarl at you for coming too close. I can’t claim to have close enough to have touched these seals, and still have 10 fingers to prove it, but they seemed happy for me to come within 2 or 3 meters of them as long as I didn’t make any sudden movements.

The tide was going out this afternoon, and around the tip of the peninsular, there is what looks like a limestone pavement. This gives a broad expanse of rock that is flat and safe to walk on around the coastline at low tide. For the umpteenth time on this trip, I wish I knew more about birds as the walk allowed me to see loads of birds I don’t think I’ve seen before, and I certainly couldn’t identify. I have photographed some of the larger ones in the hope that James or Michael can help out some day.

Do you know what the name Kaikoura means? In Maori, Kai means sea and Koura means Crayfish, and as so often happens, the vast bulk of the crayfish catch in the area goes for export as the Europeans pay much more than the locals for this lobster like delicacy. Luckily not all the crayfish go abroad, and near to the seal car park, a couple of guys had set up a BBQ with some tables and chairs, and were offering a half grilled crayfish plus salad and rice for the equivalent of 12 Euros. I grabbed one of the few free seats and enjoyed a special meal on the beach before leaving this amazing little town to travel south to my next overnight stop. I’d have to put Kaikoura on my list of highlights for this trip - the sea life is amazing - you can also whale watch here - and it’s all caused by a deep sea trough near the coast. The town also has a great atmosphere - everyone here seems to respect nature and are keen to be completely sustainable in everything they do. There’s even a recycling museum here - it fits the place completely.

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Photos

Wet suit changing rooms
Now you know how to tell male from female snorklers in New Zealand

Hold tight please
Perching on the back shelf of the boat, it was vital not to slip into the sea before the propellers stopped

A D-Pod
Small family group of dolphins - Duskies normally travel and eat in small groups

Full sea
At one stage, dolphins could be seen all around the boat

Mind that dolphin
A dolphin swims infront of the boat - no worries though - it's far faster than us

Blow hole
Dolphins need to consciously breathe as it does not happen automatically.

Dolphins everywhere
My attempt to create a collage of dolphine photos taken from the boat

Well earned rest
Two seals have probably been at sea for 2 weeks, so deserve a rest - and the seal at the back makes it clear that they should not be disturbed

Sea bird 1
on the rocks at Kaikoura Peninsular

Sea bird 2
on the rocks at Kaikoura Peninsular

Sea bird 3
on the rocks at Kaikoura Peninsular

Nice sky
At the end of a perfect day, Kaikoura's low tide exposes a rocky coastal pavement, but my tripod is still crooked.