Dolphin swimming in Kaikoura! Yay!

I love dolphins.  I mean, who doesn’t? 

They’re fun, they’re sociable, they’re cute, and they’re unlikely to try and take a taste of your flesh (this is very important to me).

Kaikoura is home to some 2,000 dusky dolphins that live there year round.  They’re not very big by dolphin standards – only 130cm or so in length – and get their name for their grey and white skin.  They’re among the most acrobatic of dolphins and often you can see them doing full summersaults in the air.  I can confirm all this, cause we saw them up close and personal.

How up close and personal?  Try within a few feet. Cause we went swimming with them!  Squee!

Who wouldn't want to swim with us?

I mean, look how playful we are!

Dolphin Encounter was the first company in NZ to offer dolphin swimming.  They’re strictly regulated, make sure that swimmers are well informed not to try to touch the dolphins, and they do nothing to entice the dolphins near us (i.e. no food).  Basically, they somehow find out where a large pod of dolphins is each morning, then head out in that general direction.  Once they spot the pod, they stop the boat, and the snorkelers slide into the water.

It’s not one of those awful places where you pose with a trained dolphin stuck in a pool. The dolphins are wild, free, and if you’re not interesting to them, or if they feel at all threatened, they’d be off like a shot.  Our job as swimmers is to swim out to where they are and keep them entertained so they do stick around.

The way to do that is to interact with them – dive down, make and hold eye contact while they swim around you in tight circles (dizzy!), and make noises.  I opted to alternately hum some of Damien’s songs, and just say inane things like “look at you!  I see you! You’re so cute!” in a high pitched voice.  They seemed to like that.  A few times I had one’s attention for a good two or three minutes at a time.  It really is amazing, since you’re really locking gazes with them and you can feel them engaging.  Wow.

Now let’s give some context here.  It’s early October. It was 9:30 a.m.  We were in the colder section of a country that doesn’t get all that hot to begin with.  Canadians, imagine yourselves taking a dip in open water in March.  Yeah.  It’s cold.

Even with the full body wetsuit – overalls, jacket with attractive crotch strap, booties, gloves, and hood. And no, you’re not getting a photo of that – it was still glacial.  After a few minutes, I couldn’t feel my toes. Poor Nick didn’t stand a chance. He’s allergic to cold, and could feel himself swell up in a matter of minutes.  He soon had to climb out and watch the action from the boat.  Luckily, the action was pretty cool. 

Flippin' cool.



Leap!

There were an estimated 300 or so dolphins in the pod we were with, and apparently this was a particularly good day (or so said the guides) since the dolphins were pretty chill, and stuck around a long time.  Many of them did some tail flaps, some rolls, and most impressively, some flips in the air. 

The backdrop didn’t exactly hurt either, what with the snow-capped mountains and brilliant blue sky. Beautiful.

It was over all too soon.  We reluctantly rode back to shore, passing a few seals and albatrosses along the way.

After a much needed soak in the hot tub at the holiday park where we had stayed (we chose it precisely for that reason), we jumped back in the car and set off for Christchurch.

One last look at Kaikoura.