Spotting whales over Kaikoura

‘This whale is going to dive any second now, have your cameras at the ready’ our Pilot, Edward, shouted back from the cockpit of the small aircraft as we flew repeated circles around a magnificent sperm whale clearly visible just metres below in the clear teal waters of the Kaikoura sea. The ‘Wings Over Whales’ plane was set up perfectly to give every one of us seven passengers a perfect close-up view of any activity happening below. Sperm whales are resident all year round in Kaikoura as they feed off the ample quantities of squid that are present in the deep depths of the Kaikoura Canyon - a colossal underwater mountain range which begins just a short distance out from the shore line.

My experience began with a presentation about Kaikoura and the sperm whales followed by a concise but thorough safety briefing. Every flight appears to be timed to try to coincide with when they understand a whale may breach the surface – as each whale only spends roughly about ten minutes taking in air before descending vertically deep down into the dark depths below. The take-off along the grass runway was an experience in itself - before I even began to take in the majestic view out over the coastline.  It was the whales though that I really wanted to see, and I soon felt a rush of excitement throughout the plane as one was suddenly sighted. At up to eighteen metres in length these are true giants of the sea. From the air I was able to fully appreciate their substantial size and scale, from head to tail literally!

After experiencing such a buzz from the air, I figured that now I needed to get out in the water itself to encounter on a closer basis some of this area’s incredible marine life. You see the resident sperm whales are just the start, also present are huge pods of dusky dolphins, large breeding colonies of New Zealand Fur Seals and a staggering array of rare and unique seabirds.