We headed down the eastern coast road to Kaikoura where (as has increasingly become our custom) we pitched our tent in the dark and after the camp site staff had retired for the night. The next day (having of course paid for our pitch) we did the headland walk, observing seals basking on the rocks and getting excited about the prospect of hopefuly seeing, if not swimming with dolphins later in the day. We usually pride ourselves (yes, a mistake in itself) on walking faster than the estimated times given in the guide book. So, having walked fairly quickly, we thought, we were surprised to find ourselves with only 15 minutes to get to the embarkation point for the dolphin trip, and nowhere near where we needed to be. Alas, there was only one thing for it - we would have to run! And hard as it is to imagine, this is what we did - arriving at the office covered in sweat and gasping for air - but on time.
The trip was advertised as being the opportunity to swim with dolphins, but all the passengers happily agreed when the captain said he could see a couple of whales and did we want to go and check them out? As it turned out they were a couple of Orca (killer whales) and we were able to see them quite close. What was most amazing was that a couple of dolphins joined them so we could see two sets of different sized dorsal fins slowly appearing and then disappearing through the waves. The crew said the dolphins were dicing with death as the Orca are known to eat dolphins for dinner. After this unexpected and wonderful diversion, we headed off to where we hoped to find a larger pod of dolphins. What we encountered was beyond our expectations - according to the crew there were about 200 dusky dolphins, and they were jumping around and seemed generally to be having a lot of fun. Appropriately robed - in our wetsuits, masks and flippers, we jumped in a short distance away and swam towards them to see if they would like to play. We had been told by the crew to sing songs through our snorkels as this might interest the dolphins and increase the chances of them coming to investigate us. We are still not sure whether this was actually for the crew's amusement or not, but sing we did, and come and play they did. It was truly amazing - they would swim by us and around us and under us. It was absolutely glorious. And when they swam on, we'd get back in the boat and motor on a bit and then jump in again. We did this five times and every time they joined us , often swimming from behind us and appearing under us as we swam, giving us eye contact and giving us the impression they were enjoying it as much as we were.
It really was the most incredible afternoon. It quite took our breath away and we even saw the whales again on the way back. Happy days indeed.
The trip was advertised as being the opportunity to swim with dolphins, but all the passengers happily agreed when the captain said he could see a couple of whales and did we want to go and check them out? As it turned out they were a couple of Orca (killer whales) and we were able to see them quite close. What was most amazing was that a couple of dolphins joined them so we could see two sets of different sized dorsal fins slowly appearing and then disappearing through the waves. The crew said the dolphins were dicing with death as the Orca are known to eat dolphins for dinner. After this unexpected and wonderful diversion, we headed off to where we hoped to find a larger pod of dolphins. What we encountered was beyond our expectations - according to the crew there were about 200 dusky dolphins, and they were jumping around and seemed generally to be having a lot of fun. Appropriately robed - in our wetsuits, masks and flippers, we jumped in a short distance away and swam towards them to see if they would like to play. We had been told by the crew to sing songs through our snorkels as this might interest the dolphins and increase the chances of them coming to investigate us. We are still not sure whether this was actually for the crew's amusement or not, but sing we did, and come and play they did. It was truly amazing - they would swim by us and around us and under us. It was absolutely glorious. And when they swam on, we'd get back in the boat and motor on a bit and then jump in again. We did this five times and every time they joined us , often swimming from behind us and appearing under us as we swam, giving us eye contact and giving us the impression they were enjoying it as much as we were.
It really was the most incredible afternoon. It quite took our breath away and we even saw the whales again on the way back. Happy days indeed.
1 comment:
Wow, it looked like you had an amazing swimming with the dolphins experience in the wild. From the photos, it looked like the water was pretty cold from all the gear you had on in the photo. I guess it was not to cold to do it. Great Blog post. Have fun on your adventures.
God Bless,
John
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