Friday 22nd February 2019 - Kaikoura, whales and more!

Kaikoura as promised!

Today started bright and sunny - there is a familiar theme here and I hope those reading this are not finding it boring!

We were up with the larks as we were booked on a whale watching tour, and both of us were excited at the prospect of seeing our first whale, although of course it is not guaranteed. We have tried once before, and didn’t see one so there was a bit of apprehension. Our excitement meant that we had checked in for our tour way too early, but no worries, there was a coffee shop there and we sat enjoying this by the sea and watching dolphins playing out in the bay. Was this a good omen?

At the set time we sat through the briefing and then hopped on the bus that was to take us to where we boarded the catamaran. The bus driver told us how badly this business had been affected by the 2016 earthquake. The damage to some of the boats, the sudden loss of tourists at the start of the main season, problems with infrastructure, but also the determination to overcome the difficulties. They are now fully operational again, but have had 2 lean years prior to this one.

We were told that the chances of spotting an adult male sperm whale were good and the group that had just returned had seen one. As soon as we had left the harbour we headed for the direction of the last sighting. Whales spend a lot of time under the surface and only come up for air for about 15 minutes. If we remember correctly the longest recorded dive for a whale is 2 hours, but on average we think it is about an hour. Surprisingly then they have small lungs. They store oxygen in their blood and somewhere else, but can’t remember, and the info is packed in my suitcase which has been checked in. 🤦‍♀️ Anyway, we headed off and amazingly, the sperm whale was where it had last been spotted. 18 metres long, it is an impressive sight, even from the distance that we were. There are strict rules about how to approach the whales, how close you can get, and only 3 modes of transport allowed near at any one time. There are planes, helicopters, boats and kayaks - 6 kayaks equating to 1 vehicle!

I have to say I was more than a little excited! I have wanted to see whales in their natural environment for many years, so to see one so early on in the tour was a bonus!

Not a brilliant photo I know, but I was there!!

Likewise!! Just confirmation of how excited I still am!

The guides were amazing. They understand the behaviour of the whales so well, and as the whale began to stretch out to its full length explained that it was beginning to prepare itself for diving. I don’t know what they could see but they were spot on, and as they told us to ready our cameras to get that all important shot of the fluke, so the whale dived!

Then onto a second site where again we were lucky. So that’s 2! In the distance we were also able to see the water from a blow, but were not able to get there before it dived. Never mind, there was a third soon after! We only just got there in time and had to hold back a bit as when we got into the area there were already 2 planes and a helicopter above (that all looked a bit precarious!) As a plane moved off we began to get closer just as he dived.

Female sperm whales are smaller and stay in warmer waters as they don’t have as much blubber to keep them warm. The male sperm whale has the largest brain of any mammal, about the size of a basket ball and apparently are very empathetic in nature. To help them to dive to depths of up to 800 metres, they have a large sack in their head which contains a liquid that solidifies when it is in the air, making it heavier and helping the whale to get down to the depths. Once down it then gradually returns to liquid to enable the whale to get to the surface.

New Zealand has not allowed whaling since 1974.

So, we have now seen 3 whales and tried for a 4th, and it was decided by the crew that there was other sea life worthy of viewing. This included a colony of New Zealand fur seals which are very difficult to photograph as they blend in with the rocks. We also saw a southern royal albatross with a wing span of 3 and a half metres. Unfortunately it was relaxing on the water, bobbing along quite happily so we didn’t see it at full stretch. We did see other albatross and they are big!

Albatross drink sea water and are able to filter out the salt which then seeps out of their tear ducts and drips off the end of their beaks. They can live for up to 60 years and only ever have the one partner. We also saw petrel, but no photos.

And so on to dolphins. There are dusky dolphins found in this area which are small dolphins. We were not allowed too close as it was the time of day they should be resting but some were really playful and we were told they were likely to be males, engaging in a courtship ritual to attract the females.

I think Geoff may have better photos to put in the gallery! Hector dolphins are also around. They are the smallest dolphin and a threatened species, but we didn’t see any.

All too soon it was over. Am I happy to have seen whales? Oh yes! The only problem is I want to see more. Now where else in the world can we find them? 😂

After a quick sandwich we drove out to the peninsular as Magan from Hiking New Zealand had told us there was a seal colony out there which gave you much closer access to the fur seals. It was a bit of a walk out across rocks, but yes we could get closer and also just stand and watch them for a while, at our leisure. They seemed very chilled, but we had been warned to stay at least 20metres away as the Mums (who are pregnant for 51 weeks of the year, poor things) can be really aggressive and give you a nasty bite!

What a day, and our last full day in New Zealand too. It was a wonderful way to finish.