Continued from “Kaikoura”…

Several weeks ago, Rus and I booked a trip with Encounter Kaikoura, which specialises in dolphin watching and dolphin swimming tours.  Our flatmate, Radu, had swam with the dolphins a few weeks earlier and said it was amazing, so we opted to try it!  I did not know the details, only that the tour takes a bunch of people out on a boat to see dolphins and drops a few of them (wearing wetsuits) into the ocean so they could swim with them.

Kaikoura is a small town of about 2,000 people and is unique because of the deep ocean trenches just off its coast.  The underwater canyon system merges warm water from the north and mixes it with the cold waters from the Antarctic.  This allows the nutrients to be dispersed into the deep and support the huge communities of large ocean mammals like dolphins and whales that live there.  With relatively easy access to these awesome animals by boat, Kaikoura is a popular eco-tourist spot.

Once we checked into Encounter Kaikoura, a tourist shop and cafe bustling with people on this beautiful day, we waited to be summoned to get our wetsuits. From the outset, we were told that the first two tours did not go out that morning due to the rough seas from the storm.  Also, no dolphins had been spotted by any of the watching companies (there are many offering whale- and dolphin-watching by boat, helicopter, and small plane).  We were also told, in the event we did not get to see any dolphins, we would get charged a small operational fee.  I guess you could say that they did a good job of managing our expectations.  We went outside in the warm sun to await our call.

Once we got our wetsuits on (looking rather ridiculous), we waddled out to the presentation room with about 50 others, to watch an informational video about the dolphins we were about the encounter (hopefully).  Here, we learned that the dusky dolphins, were not baited or fed for the tours.  We also learned that they are quite acrobatic and love to do flips and spins; hopefully, we would see some of these while we were out!

After the video, it was time to go!  We boarded a bus for a five minute trip to the dock where two 30-ft. fishing boats awaited.  We got on our boat and soon after, we were off in search of dusky dolphins.

A little bit about the weather - it was warm (about 20C/70F) and sunny with some fluffy clouds in the sky.  The water was clear, light blue and beautiful.  After nearly two weeks of colder and wet weather (this is supposed to be Summer!), it was such a welcome change.  At first, the roller coaster-like motion of the boat as it went over the waves was fun, but some people near me were already disliking the trip (getting seasick).

On our way out to sea, we talked to a cool 30-something British couple (who live and work in Portugal).  They have spent the last month travelling New Zealand and were going to take a helicopter to the top of Mount Fyffe (which, at its summit, gives panoramic views of Kaikoura) to get married at sunset the next day.  It was going to be just the two of them and the Justice of the Peace.  The guy said they had been engaged for five years, and since their friends and families were scattered all over the world, they decided to marry privately and “make big parties” in Portugal and the UK when they got back.  As beautiful as Kaikoura is, I can see why they chose it to celebrate their special day - very romantic!

After about 45 minutes, we were told that the other boat that went out with us spotted something - an orca!  Orca are occasional predators of dusky dolphins, we were told, so my expectations of seeing those dolphins were dimished further.   By the time we had arrived, a second orca was with the first, both young males.  They were so close to the boat and beautiful!   While we were there checking out the orca, a flock of Wandering Albatross flew into the area.  These birds can live 70+ years and have wingspans of over three metres!  Rus captured some excellent photos of these fascinating animals.

Eventually, we continued on our expedition to find the dusky dolphins.  I migrated to the deck on the back of the boat to enjoy the sun, wind, and sea spray - what a glorious day out on the open ocean!  After searching for another hour and going farther and farther down the coast (we passed our campsite), the tour decided to take us over to an area where New Zealand Fur Seals live.  We had seen an odd one here and there, just laying on their backs floating, with their little front flippers resting on their bellies - so cute!  There was a giant rock off the coast where many of these little animals were resting in the sun.  There were adorable little baby fur seals too!  We floated near the rock so everyone could see them and take photos, then we were told it was time to go back.  We had been gone for 2.5 hours.

On the way back, the tour said there had been some dolphins spotted!  When I looked up, we were right in front of our campsite.  These were likely the exact dolphins we had seen this morning while selecting our tent site.  The tour guides should have just asked us, right?  At any rate, these were Hector’s dolphins - small, endangered, and very rare - and Encounter Kaikoura (actually, no one) has a commercial licence to swim with them.  We had to be content (and we were!) observing them from the boat.  They swam all around us, and we had plenty of opportunity to look at them.  One thing I did not realize about dolphins is that they sound just like humans when they inhale a deep breath.  It was cool to see and hear them!

Soon, it was time to go back to port for good.  We began the trip back and were told that we would be charged half-price for a “spectators’ tour”.  I was starting to feel a bit seasick (not from that news, although I was a bit annoyed), so I rested on the seat in front of me for the remainder of the trip and was glad when we reached solid ground again.  We took the bus back, changed out of the wetsuits, and walked across the street to our car.  We had been gone for four hours, and it was early (just before 5:00PM), but time to find dinner!