Kaikoura, the small town on the East Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, was once a whaling base. Today, it is better known as Kaikoura Whale Watching town. The Maori have inhabited the Kaikoura peninsula for more than 1000 years. They have an interesting legend associated with this land to their demigod ancestor Māui. So, are you excited to meet the whales of Kaikoura and know the story of Māui? Stay with ‘Footlooseinme’ to know all about Kaikoura and meet the interesting marine life found here.
Māui is said to have fished out the North Island, standing on the Kaikoura Peninsula. ‘Te Waka a Māui’ is the Māori name for the South Island, which means the canoe of Māui. ‘Te Ika a Māui’ is the Māori name for the North Island, which means the fish of Māui. Thus, the legend goes that Māui fished the North Island standing on this spot in the South Island.
Kaikoura Peninsula has been the base for hunting Moa, an extinct group of large flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. Before human habitation Haast Eagle was the only predator of the Moa. After the Māori settlement in New Zealand, they hunted the Moa to extinction. With the European settlement, whaling in Kaikoura began. Commercial Whaling in New Zealand continued for a long period, starting from the 18th century till 1965 in recent years. Whaling led to a massive decline in their number.
Since 1978, cetaceans have been protected under the Marine Mammals Protection Act of 1978. Killing any cetacean is a punishable offense. There is a widespread anti-whaling sentiment all across New Zealand now. Kaikoura changed from a hunting ground for whales. It is now a safe sanctuary where visitors come to see the marine animals in their natural habitat.
We were attracted by the lucrative story of Kaikoura Whale Watching. Thus, we ventured to Kaikoura. It is a two-hour drive from Christchurch through some scenic locale. We booked our Kaikoura Whale Watching trip by boat well in advance. There are two types of Whale watching tours in Kaikoura, one by boat and the other by air. After reaching the Whale watching office in Kaikoura, we received some disappointing news. Whale Watching would not be possible for the day. The whales are deep in the ocean today, and there is no possibility for their return.
We were given options to choose from. – To continue with the boat trip anyway. This guarantees chances of watching other marine creatures like dolphins, fur seals, and albatross. – Another was to opt for the whale watching plane ride, provided seats are available, that fly far offshore. – Lastly, we take a full refund and return. We happily opted for the first one. Although we were sad that we were so near yet so far from the largest marine mammals in the world. But seeing the dolphins and the fur seals in the wild is no less fun.
We queued up for boarding the bus to the dock. The boats were waiting there to take us on an unforgettable experience into the Pacific Ocean. We were highly excited to meet the deep blue. The office where we waited was beside the Kaikoura beach. While we waited for the bus, we saw the dolphins breaching in the water offshore.
We boarded our designated boat. As instructed, we took our seats arranged in rows at the center of the boat. The guide introduced the crew and explained the geological features of the coast and the peninsula. In his presentation, he introduced us to the marine mammals present in this region. He spoke about their feeding habits, threats, vulnerability status, and their conservation effort. The boat started to move offshore. Within a few minutes, the captain announced dolphins on the right side of the boat.
All the passengers rushed out to the deck to see the small pod of Hector’s dolphins. The dolphins are very social animals, and they tend to like human attention. In the next few minutes, there were dolphins all around the boat. Passengers got scattered on the right, left and front deck of the boat. Then came the Dusky Dolphins, a speciality of Kaikoura. The dolphin pods were merrily entertaining us all around the boat.
We braved the strong, chilly winds of the Pacific Ocean. We stood on the front deck watching the dolphins playing in the sun. The snow-capped Southern Alps made a stunning backdrop for the photos. Then appeared a sole Albatross on the right. Suddenly, a fur seal appeared with a catch. Soon, the snatchers were on high alert. The gulls, keeping up to their reputation, tried to snatch the fish.
The fight for the fish between the seal and the gulls was on when the Albatross too joined the game. This show continued for a few minutes. We eventually lost track of how the Fur seal saved its fish from the Gulls and the Albatrosses. The spectators in the boat were highly amused by the unexpected wild show performed by the marine creatures. We had a spectacular time in the Kaikoura waters. So what, if we didn’t see the mighty Whales? We had no regrets. We completely forgot that we came here for the Kaikoura Whale Watching, and the tour even had the same name. 😀
After this extraordinary experience in Kaikoura waters, we had a delicious lunch in Kaikoura town, followed by some shopping. Shopping included the famous Paua shell items. Then we visited a viewpoint which is the designated spot for astrophotography in Kaikoura. Apart from whale watching, Kaikoura is also known for its amazing dark sky experience. We drove by the coastline to reach a spot known for the Fur seal colony.
The rocky coast here was full of these adorable, plumpy creatures lazing in the Sun. Some gave us a curious glance while others rested unperturbed. They were well camouflaged within the rocks, and finding the still ones was a difficult task. Then there was the big fat guy – the intimidating Beech Master. Seeing him, you will know why he is the master. 😀It was again fun to be with the Fur Seals.
Bidding farewell to these lovely creatures of Kaikoura, we were on our way back to Christchurch. On our way back, we stopped at a vineyard which also has a winery. We had a good chat with the owner and her beautiful daughter-in-law. She shared how her husband started the winery. Sadly, he passed away a few months ago. This left her and their sons and daughters-in-law to run the family business.
A memorable day spent surrounded by the Blue. The deep blue Pacific below and the vast clear sky above. Everything was smiling bright. We had more than we expected from this day trip to Kaikoura. We promised to return to Kaikoura. We want to meet the Whales of New Zealand. We also wish to experience the dark sky here. Stay with me to learn about my next destination in New Zealand.
Read my post on Pohatu Penguins.
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