Swimming with the Dophins

A highlight for Will while we were staying at Kaikoura(east coast of south island) was swimming with the dolphins.  We were told that if we signed up for the 5:15 departure on the boat we would have the best chance to see the most dolphins.  I went along as an observer and photographer of Will in the water.  Note the sunrise.  The second picture features Will----wet suit and snorkeling gear.

The swimmers were told to make high pitched noises to attract the dolphins.   Will claims that the dolphins were within a foot of him.  He was even able to make eye contact.  Will said that he would circle around the dolphins and then they would do the same.

We don't know the exact number of dolphins, but Will would guess that there were about 50 swimming close to the adventurers.  Will and the other swimmers went into the water twice.  Will liked the fact that the dolphins were in their natural setting and it was up to the human eye to spot them.

After the swim, we observed lots of dolphins leaping into the air close to the boat.  Will was able to get better pictures with his new camera and so when we download his pics we can include those.

We learned  from the guide that dolphins belong to the whale family.  When Will talked to Kai about this, he exclaimed, "Of course grandpa, everyone knows that!"

We were told that dolphins generally come up for air every 30 seconds but can stay under 8 minutes.   There are a lot of permanent sperm whales and dolphins that stay here because of a deep canyon in the ocean with lots of marine life and food. 

 Most of the time while the swimmers were observing the dolphins through their goggles attached to their snorkeling equipment, the dolphins were under water as well.  It was a challenge for me to get a photo when they "popped up".  (NZ word)


We were 30 minutes out to sea and on the way home spotted a whale, water shooting out of the blow hole.