Wildlife in Kaikoura.

KAIKOURA.

The Wild Life Capital of New Zealand.

If you are a wildlife enthusiast, then you should definitely visit Kaikoura. However, if you are not particularly interested in wildlife, you might want to skip this town. As someone who loves wildlife, I loved it and didn’t want to leave.
We drove into Kaikoura from the north along the coastline, and the views were stunning. All along the coast we saw hundreds of seals becoming very active in the light of the setting sun.
We hadn’t seen this many seals in one place yet, and were getting very excited for the next few days. On the way to our campsite we stopped off at a beach and I took a few snaps.

Kaikoura is a strange little place, due to its size. When I was told it was the wildlife capital of New Zealand, with whale tours and an abundance of wildlife to see, I assumed it would be large and touristy. However, that was not the case. The main town of Kaikoura is located on one road, and as far as I could tell, the only whale watching tour company by boat is called, unsurprisingly: Whale Watch Kaikoura.
The only other boating activities were dolphin encounters and albatross encounters. These tours looked pretty good, and with dolphin encounters, you can swim with wild dusky dolphins, who are ridiculously acrobatic. I would like to point out that if you just wanted to see an albatross, any of the boat tours would suffice, and it is not necessary to do a whole albatross tour, although I'm sure you'll get more time and better views with the tour. There's even a whale tour by plane or helicopter, in case you want to see those big guys from a bird's eye view (literally).

Kaikoura also has a very large seal colony located underneath Point Kean Viewpoint. There is are carpark there and if you walk along the beach you’ll have to watch your feet so you don’t accidentally stand on one. We went in December which is prime time to see a lot of seal activity. Seal pups are absolutely everywhere some only being a few days old. This time of year also means there are fights between males over territories.

Whale Watch Kaikoura.

So apparently, Sperm Whales are the main attraction at Kaikoura. Considering I am a certified whale nerd you would have thought I’d have known that. I knew they were in the area along with: blue whales, orca, humpback whales, southern right whales, pilot whales and minke, but I didn’t know how prominent there were to the area.

We set out early in the morning in search of wildlife, and as soon as we departed from shore, we were greeted by a pod of dolphins. It was a promising start to the trip.

Holey Moley:

14.35m Male Sperm Whale.

You would have thought that being the biggest toothed predator on our blue rock, they would be easy to locate. But nope, even at 18 metres long, they still get lost in the vast ocean. Fortunately, the crew uses the whales' unique clicking noises to locate them. The clicks serve as the whales' echolocation, which helps them find prey in the deep ocean. By listening to the clicks through a microphone on a pole, the crew can determine the whales' location and guide the boat to them. Whilst on the boat, passengers are required to stay inside while the boat is moving, but when it stops, they can listen to the whales' clicks using a microphone connected to headphones. It's a beautiful sound and provides a unique insight into the whales' hunting behavior. When the clicks stop, it means the whale has caught its prey and is returning to the surface, giving passengers the chance to see these magnificent creatures up close.

We were fortunate enough to see Holey Moley, a 14.35-meter sperm whale with a distinct hole in his dorsal hump and fluke. This massive creature was quite a sight to behold, and I was tempted to jump in with my GoPro., mostly due to wanting to get closer, but I would by lying if I said that the motion on the ocean wasn’t getting to me. Holey Moley stayed at the surface for a while, catching his breath and blowing water several meters high. We were able to get quite close to him and see all the scars and dents on his body. Being a sperm whale sure looked rough!

I had been eager to see a sperm whale fluke ever since my last whale watching experience in California, where I had seen humpbacks. The water was shallow there, so the whales didn't lift their flukes out of the water when they dove. But in Kaikoura, the water is deep, and 9 times out of 10, a diving sperm whale will lift its fluke, and we were lucky enough to witness this amazing sight. Despite its massive size, it was incredible to see how gracefully the tail slipped under the surface of the water.

The sea was surprisingly calm despite the boat's constant rising and falling over the swell. Even the albatross, with their 3-meter wingspans, seemed to disappear within the waves. In my excitement to see the sperm whale, I didn't realize how bad I was feeling. As much as I love the ocean, it seems that my stomach doesn't share the same passion. I clung onto the hope that the dolphins would cure my sea sickness, like some sort of aquatic medicine. By the time we reached the dusky dolphins, my stomach was in knots and I had nothing left to give. I was unable to leave my seat or go outside, so I had to endure the crew's presentation whilst throwing up into a bag next to my girlfriend and a fellow passenger who was unlucky enough to be sitting next to me.

The dolphin medicine did seem to work slightly. The boat stopped and feeling fragile I walked out on the deck. Despite my sea sickness, I couldn't help but appreciate the beauty of the dusky dolphins. They were such a contrast to the massive and slow-moving sperm whale we had seen earlier. These little guys were quick and nimble, jumping metres in the air and doing somersaults. Energetic was an understatement.
I watched them enviously while I struggled to keep the rest of my lunch down. They seemed to be mocking me with their acrobatic flips and jumps.

The journey back to harbour was just as bad as the journey to the dolphins. I really was completely empty so was just making pointless noises into a sick bag while clutching my seat. I would 100% do it again and having a working visa I even asked about jobs. I would eventually have got used to the boat. I’m mental.