Hold your breath that's a sperm whale just a short distance away, Kaikoura Whale Watching continued

The whales can stay down below water for an average of around 45 minutes so the hope is always that you haven’t arrived just as it has dived. We hung around peering keenly out to sea all seeking the sign of a blow of water into the air that would signal the surfacing of the whale. In the meantime we saw an array of sea birds including a range of different albatross. We also spotted a small group of the area’s local dusky dolphins. After a while our captain put his sound system in the water again and declared he could no longer hear the whale. We were informed that this was a good thing as it meant that the whale was probably about to surface, apparently the clicking stops once they being their ascent. A hush descended throughout the boat as we all waited. Shortly afterwards one of the crew members with binoculars, signaled ahead and we began to glide across the water. It wasn’t long before a fountain of water surged through the air and we all spotted movement on the waters surface. Our boat moved slowly towards the whale approaching from the back so as not to concern him. We were all told to move to the left side of the boat to get the perfect viewing spot. The whale was right before us, it’s full length visible through the now calm water. There is something very special about witnessing an animal or mammal of any kind going about it’s own business without disturbing it’s peace or habitat.

It’s just about impossible to take photo’s of Sperm Whales in the water

The whale took large breathes as we all gazed down privileged at such an opportunity.

After a few minutes our crew told us to have our cameras ready, our finger poised on the buttons as the whale before us took it’s last big breath, seemed to dive under the water but in the last instance its tail resurfaced and it breached the water in the spectacular fashion usually only seen on television documentaries. We all gasped in awe and I swore a round of applause almost broke out.

Our crew then decided to take us closer to shore to where I pod of dolphins was hanging out. There had been some sightings of humpback whales over the last few weeks and they were quite often surrounded by the resident pods of dolphins who were curious about any new potential playmate. Unfortunately we didn’t spot another whale but we did spend a large amount of time being thoroughly entertained by a large pod of dolphins who just seem to love hanging around boats.

They jumped and splashed their way through the water, some even performing acrobatic turns for all our entertainment. Our final trip of the morning took us to a large rock poking up out of the ocean known as Rileys Lookout. It was named after a whaler who used to stand on it’s top to look out for the Southern Right Whales that frequented the area. Today the rock is a haul out for the New Zealand Fur Seal who have a small nursery here. The babies could be spotted clambering around in small pools carved out of the rock side. Hurled up above them were the females enjoying some well earned rest. How they manage to climb so high out of the ocean and up the steep sides is a wonder all of its own.

A slumbering fur seal with it’s baby on the rocks at Kaikoura

Eventually our time was up and it was a case of once again settling back in our seat as the boat accelerated back over the wide stretch of ocean to South Bay Harbour at Kaikoura.