Rain does(n't) stop play!

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An uncomfortable night’s sleep (must’ve been all those crossed limbs!) broken again and again (and again) by what had to be huge road-trains haring down Highway 1, just behind the campsite, was followed by the most beautiful sight. Sunshine, no rain, light winds and a clear view of the snow on top of the Kaikoura mountains. None of us dared think the best … but a short nip through the hole in the fence (NOT officially recognised) and across the railway to the Whale Watch office confirmed it. We would be going whale-watching – YIPPEE!
A pootle around the gift-shop, a sniff of the wonderful fried breakfasts in the café (good option only to sniff these, as you’ll discover later) and a genuinely interesting introductory video and safety briefing and then we were on the coach to the wharf. A sleek catamaran, seating about forty-five with a crew of six soon had us heading out to sea and the drop-off (or the ABYSS as the guide kept referring to it). The guide was very knowledgeable and interesting about all manner of sea-life, but especially aquatic mammals, and had a large display behind him with some excellent animations of our primary target, the Sperm Whale, and why Kaikoura is so blessed an environment for sighting them.
An hour’s worth of (admittedly interesting) commentary and failed viewings from the deck had me worried that we might, unfortunately, be getting our 80% refund the company prides itself on. Not even the entertainment value of watching William desperately trying (and failing) to ignore the sights and sounds (!) of those early fried breakfasts making a reappearance could lift the growing sense of gloom.
Yes, the albatross were impressive, the petrels and shearwaters were cheeky darting around the boat but why couldn’t the hydrophone locate the whale that the spotter plane has seen just minutes before? And then there he (?) was, majestically rolling through the waves, spouting to gain the necessary oxygen for another dive into the abyss … his tiny dorsal fin, ridged neck and ‘cellulite-like’ blubber around his shoulders all took on a real meaning after what we’d been lectured on. As if on some aquatic timetable, we were counted-down to the moment we had all come to see – the dive! We weren’t disappointed as I hope you can see from the video and photo on the blog. Each dive lasts somewhere between one and two hours, sees the whale consuming up to 100kg of giant squid, huge tuna and all manner of sharks and bottoms out somewhere between 1000 and 3500m – AWESOME really does apply here!
Over the course of the next two hours we caught another dive, some more seabirds and a fur seal colony. On our chase to our second dive we were treated to see a pod of Dusky Dolphins leaping and somersaulting through the air, desperate to catch the attention of our captain, such is their desperation to engage with humans, according to our guide. Yes, whale watching is expensive but we all feel it was worth every penny! So much so, that we’re off swimming with dolphins tomorrow …

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Comments

[amy]

wow
after watching for the 3rd time amy still saying wow how cool. so close to that huge whale. definately worth every penny! Much better than the daily sight of wake and shake! hope you managing to keep up the tradition with morning renditions of 'I like to move it'!!