Day 15 (Mar 20 2013): Whales and Seals in Kaikoura (Oh My!)

The Quick Facts:

* Spent the day in Kaikoura, which is known for its marine life
* Went on a whale watching boat tour – saw three sperm whales!
* Then walked the Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway, a (free) walk filled with stunning vistas and an up-close and personal visit to a seal colony

The Good:

* Saw my first whales ever
* Up close encounters with seals – they are almost as cute as dogs!

The Bad:

* Kaikoura is a small town that definitely died down at night – it seems to be very much a town that thrives in the summer but gets sleepy after peak season

Kaikoura is known for its marine life – whales, dolphins, fur seals, penguins, birds, etc.  The reason for this is that the continental shelf in Kaikoura ends only ~200 meters from the shore, when it drops off quite suddenly to depths of ~2000 meters.  The southerly currents in the canyons below the surface of the water dredge up nutrients from the ocean floor, creating a feeding zone for all of the marine life that people come to see here.

So two big events today.  The first was going on a whale watching boat tour (Whale Watch Kaikoura) which we did first thing in the morning – the advice we got was go on the first tour (which leaves at 7:30AM) to get the water while it is still calm.  This is a well-oiled, highly efficient tourist operation – not a second is wasted from the time you enter the building to watch the safety demonstration, to how the boat pulls out of the harbor as soon as the last person is seated.  Once the boat has set sail, the whale watching experience is somewhat archaic – the crew rely on their eyes to spot whales as they surface for oxygen.  When that did not immediately work, the skipper used what appeared to be 70s-era technology (extremely large headphones (ipod earbuds these were not) and a microphone) to listen in the water for the whales talking to each other.  Eventually, we found what we were looking for (this is a sperm whale, you are seeing its entire head (some of which is hard to pick out in the photo), with the back of the head noted by the hump):

And this is the whale spewing out water through its blowhole:

 

And then we found two whales who were seemingly hanging out with each other (which is rare – sperms whales are highly independent creatures; see the two humps in the water):

 

And finally, when they were done getting their oxygen and ready to go dive for more food, the whales do so with a flip of their tail into the water:

 

After that experience, we went on the 3-4 hour Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway, which I highly recommend.  Not only is it free, it takes you to some stunning vistas as well as to the Point Kean Seal Colony, where seals just sun themselves on the rocks and wait for you to take their picture.

This one had an itch that just needed to be scratched…

 

Strike a pose...what a ham!

Then we continued our walk for some more spectacular views that we’ve become accustomed to in New Zealand the past two weeks.

 

And that’s that.  Our day ended with a drive to Christchurch, where we unfortunately fly out to Singapore in the morning.  More on that later.

Follow me on Twitter at @adonaldson1214