After reluctantly leaving Christchurch, I have only one stop left on my tour of New Zealand’s South Island – Kaikoura. It doesn’t take me long to realize that I have, unknowingly, saved the best for last. Just offshore of the tiny town with a population of only 4000, a unique combination of factors provides the perfect habitat for an abundance of marine life. Some of the sea creatures you are likely to stumble upon in Kaikoura’s waters include Hectors dolphins, dusky Dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, New Zealand fur seals, orcas, pilot whales, sperm whales and blue penguins. Sea birds such as albatross and petrels also frequent the area.

There is a reason for this abundance of marine life. As the ocean floor makes its way out to sea, it gradually dips down to 90 meters, before plunging off into depths of 1000 meters on average. The trench does reach 2000 meters in some places. Cold and warm currents come together here, creating an upwelling current which brings nutrients from the depths of the ocean closer to the surface. The rich feeding grounds attract the huge variety of animals, making Kaikoura a wildlife lover’s paradise year round.

Whales

I have chosen whale watching as the first of many tours. There are two options for viewing the mammals from Kaikoura – by air or by sea. I opt for the air alternative with Wings Over Whales, and my objective for the day is to see a Sperm Whale – the largest toothed whale in the world. Males can grow to a length of 20 meters and weigh up to 42,000 kilograms. I figured I would have a pretty good view from the small six-passenger plane that I was climbing into, my heart pumping in anticipation. After a smooth take-off, I drag my eyes away from the stunning view of the dark blue mountains towering over Caribbean worthy waters.

I turn towards the pilot, who is talking to us via the headphones. He explains that the whales dive down for approximately 45 minutes, so it might take awhile before we encounter one of the huge mammals. In the meantime, the white waves crashing against the rocky shore catch my attention, and my gaze returns to my incredible surroundings. A layer of clouds moves in, perfectly masking the horizon so that it looks as if the water is lapping against the mountains.

About twenty minutes into our flight, the pilot spots our Sperm Whale. Even from thousands of feet above the huge creature, I can gauge its size from the massive boat full of whale watchers that floats along beside the whale. It’s easily as big as the boat, if not longer; the tail end of the whale is mostly submerged. We circle for about ten minutes, watching the huge mass of gray exhale, and finally, we get a view of its tail as it flukes up toward the sky before disappearing into the water completely.

Dolphins

The next day, I’m up at the crack of dawn to experience Kaikoura’s wildlife a little more intimately. “Your job today is to entertain the dolphins, not to be entertained by them,” our tour guide, Sue, says solemnly. “These are wild animals. We can’t control their behavior, but there are a few things you can do to ensure that the dolphins stick around.”

Our enthusiastic guide explains that if the dolphins don’t find us engaging, they’ll get bored and disappear. Two ways to attract the dolphin’s attention include diving down under the water and making loud high-pitched sounds. “Make eye contact with them,” Sue advises. “If they start circling you, stare into their eyes and swim with them. They’re playing.” This is starting to sound like hard work for 6 a.m., but I’m up for it.

Thousands of Dusky dolphins inhabit the waters off Kaikoura, and just thirty minutes after leaving the shore, the boat’s pilot locates a pod of about 200 dolphins frolicking in the waves. Within seconds, myself and twelve other awkward humans clad in 7mm thick wetsuits are clambering into the icy waters to join them.

The second I hit the water, I am aware of two things. The 59-degree water forces the breath out of my lungs, and my heart stutters as dark sprightly objects dart beneath me. It takes me a moment to realize that these speedy smudges are the dolphins – they’re everywhere! I chuckle out loud and the noise attracts a dolphin to me. Every few seconds another dolphin flits under me, next to me or behind me.

I think back to our “how to engage a dolphin lesson” and plan for a swift dive down. I take a deep breath and thrash my arms and legs, but I don’t descend; the thick wetsuit makes me extremely buoyant. I abandon my diving attempts and start what I can only call shrieking. I am imitating the dolphin sounds I have heard on documentaries, but what comes out of my snorkel sounds more like a staccato of horror movie shrieks. But never mind; it works. Two dolphins swim under me, close enough that I could reach out and touch them. Even though they come within inches of you, touching the animals is forbidden because they’re wild animals in their natural environment.

Encouraged by the results of my squealing, I continue unabashedly. The dolphins are all over and they seem to be sticking around a bit longer. I finally get a good look at my friendly swimming companions. Their backs are colored bluish black and they have white underbellies. One decides to loiter and I can see white streaks decorating its back. Its fins are almost completely white and I can pick out various scars and scrapes on its back.

Each dolphin is distinctive. The underbelly of one reaches farther up than most, making the dolphin predominantly white. Another has dark fins instead of light. The Dusky dolphin’s heads are a much different shape than the more common Bottlenose dolphins. The Dusky’s beak is more conical in shape, and the eyes seem positioned almost too close to the end of their mouths, where tiny white teeth peek out.

Dusky dolphins only grow to a maximum length of two meters, which makes these dolphins roughly the same size as me. Still, it’s daunting to be in the water with such fast wild aquatic mammals. Living up to their reputation as the most playful of all the dolphins, one jumps out of the water and does a flip. It lands close enough to me that I can feel the splash.

A dolphin flits by on my left, and turns to swim behind me. A moment later, the same dolphin swerves past me on the right, before cutting in front of me and swimming back around me. There’s no doubt it’s circling me. I stare into its eyes the next time it swims in front of me. I kick my flippered feet as hard as I can, propelling myself in what I hope is a circle. I am positive it’s looking me straight in the eye and I match its pace for several rounds. But the heartbreaking fact is; I just can’t keep up to this graceful creature designed for gliding about in the water. It gets bored and moves on.

What seems like only minutes after jumping into the water, the whistle blows, signaling us to swim back to the boat. I scramble on board, exhausted, and land in a moist heap on the deck. We have been in the water for 45 minutes, but the fun is not over yet. On our way back to shore, we ride along with the huge pod of dolphins we have just been swimming with.

The water is teeming with dolphins –hundreds of them frolic in the waters surrounding the boat. Every minute, a dolphin somersaults out of the water, flipping in mid-air and landing with a splash. A mother and her baby swim parallel to the boat, allowing us a good look at the three-month-old calf. It’s a whole new perspective on my swimming companions.

Pelagic Birds

After my brief encounter with the mighty albatross on the Otago Peninsula, I was itching to see more of one of the world’s largest flight birds. Albatross Encounter offers two-hour tours where you are likely to get up close and personal with the infamous albatross, as well as petrels, gulls, shearwaters, shags and terns.

As exciting as all these birds are, my eyes are peeled for only the albatross as we pull away from the shore. A petrel could land on my head and I wouldn’t notice; for me, it’s all about the albatross. And I don’t have to wait long – minutes after we leave the shore, our guide throws a cage full of raw meat into the water, and it drags behind us as we pick up speed. Almost immediately, a long thin shape appears on the horizon to the rear of the boat. As it gets closer, I let out a squeal of delight – it’s size alone reveals it to be an albatross.

With a wingspan of nearly two meters, the huge bird looks almost prehistoric as it flaps its heavy wings. Behind it, a flock of following birds darkens the sky. If I wasn’t so excited, I’d be frightened – the birds are coming after us in a frenzy. The boat slows to a stop and two huge albatrosses are the first to land, heading straight for the cage of meat. As they peck away at their free meal, I get a good look at my favorite bird.

The huge white birds resemble an oversize duck, and their size makes them almost awkward. The top of its head is speckled with brown to match the color of its wings, but the majority of the bird is pure white. It doesn’t take me long to realize that these two albatrosses are not the best of friends; within moments they are squawking at each other, their long, pink, pointy beaks alternating between poking at the meat, and at each other. It’s like watching the Discovery Channel live.

A smaller albatross lands next to the boat and the guide identifies it as a White Capped Albatross. Although its size is not as impressive as the two fighting albatross behind the boat, this bird’s face is definitely more handsome. White feathers sit atop a light grey head, which ends in a yellow beak. Just above where the water laps against white feathers, the grey begins and reaches up to the white feather cap. Its wings are a dark brown. The lone albatross floats alone, hardly moving. It seems at peace with itself.

The fight over the meat continues. Occasionally, a small shag will get close enough to grab a speck of meat, but the bigger albatross doesn’t hesitate to scare it away. The whole time, the huge birds are shrieking. Sometimes, they sound almost like chickens, but at one point, I’m transported back home to Canada as the albatross honks like a goose.

Meanwhile, what seems like hundreds of birds have landed all around us. I watch in awe as an albatross comes in for a landing; its wings spread out while its feet hit the water like water-skis. I’m sure they all want a piece of the meat, but none are brave enough to wrestle with the two giants attacking the food. The boat starts up again and they finally disperse, giving the smaller birds a chance to dine. As we putt back to shore, the sky darkens again as the ocean going birds follow us back to land.

New Zealand Fur Seals

For some reason, I was compelled to get back into Kaikoura’s icy waters – this time with seals. Several colonies of New Zealand Fur Seals live near Kaikoura, and Seal Swim Kaikoura offers two-hour trips designed to give you the experience of a lifetime. It’s worth noting that although seals are generally known to be shark food, no sharks have been spotted in the swimming area in the 21 years that the tours have been operating.

I was slightly worried about getting so close to such large animals in their own habitat. But our guide explains early on that although you should never approach a seal on land, swimming with them is perfectly safe. But my heart still flutters as I ease myself into the frigid water. I can see seals lounging on the rocky island we’ve driven out to, but when I put my mask on and look around, I don’t see anything moving.

Soon enough, I catch sight of something zooming past me on my left. Male fur seals can grow up to 2.5 meters long and weigh around 150 kg, so this guy is hard to miss. He comes fairly close to me right off the bat. He swims directly under me, nearly blending in with the long grassy seaweed growing on the ocean floor – and then he’s off.

Within minutes another smaller seal has come to play with me. His furry body has tiny bubbles attached to it and I can almost reach out and touch his long white whiskers. He floats on top of the water, about two meters away and does a series of flips. In between, he stops and looks at me, as if he is wondering why I’m just sitting there, motionless. In the meantime, two seals behind me seem to be playing tag. They are the smallest seals I’ve seen, and I take for granted that they are juveniles, and this is their playground.

A bigger seal suddenly notices me and swims up to me, his nose sticking out of the water. He suddenly dives down beneath me, his glassy eyes following me as he swims below me before climbing back to the surface. He repeats this several times before rushing off in a maze of bubbles. His flippers look almost like they are made out of plastic as he flaps out of view.

I take my head out of the water and notice a group of seals have climbed out of the water onto the rocky island. A baby is having a hard time getting out of the waves crashing onto the rock, but the other seals are oblivious. A male and female seem to be flirting; she goes close to the noticeably bigger male, and then backs away, grunting. Eventually, their necks meet and they rock up and down together.

Back on the boat heading to shore, I’m shivering, but my insides are warm with the pleasure of a new experience. The South Island has been kind to me, and I’m not sure that I’m ready to leave. My only consolation is the entire North Island; it’s ready and waiting for me.

For More Information:

The best time of year to swim with dolphins and seals in Kaikoura is the southern summer, from about October to March. Dolphin Encounter runs trips year round, but the water gets even chillier during the winter. December and January are the busiest months; if you plan to swim with dolphins during this time, you’ll need to book ahead – at least 4 weeks in advance. Visit Dolphin and Albatross Encounter at www.dolphin.co.nz/kaikoura.
For More Information on Wings Over Whales, visit www.whales.co.nz
Want to swim with New Zealand Fur Seals? www.sealswimkaikoura.co.nz

For a closer look at life overseas, check out my e-book, Watching Clocks Sing in Turkish, detailing the adventure-filled year I spent teaching in Turkey!