The
Whale Watch enterprise emerged in 1987 as the local Maori community in Kaikoura
were facing an economic decline. According
to legend, their ancestor had journeyed to find a new life in New Zealand on
the back of a whale, Tohora; here seemed another opportunity for whales to come
to their aid.
The
business has developed to operate a fleet of purpose designed catamarans, a
marina to accommodate them in South Bay and a bookings office/café/shop at the Whaleway
Station in Kaikoura; a dual purpose building also serving the railway station
on the Picton to Christchurch line. South Bay is a few kilometres away on the far
side of the peninsular from Kaikoura.
This explained why we had not seen any evidence of the fleet in Kaikoura
itself, but we had stumbled across it on our walk around the peninsular, past the
seal colony, and then to the harbour at South Bay. Clearly a bus transfer would be part of our
tour.
Whale Watch Marina, South Bay
Whilst
there can be no guarantees of viewing marine wildlife, the operators claim a
95% success rate and offer an 80% refund if no whales are sighted. Typically, there are one or two sightings on each tour.
We awoke on the morning of our tour to the
promised calm weather and it looked to the layman that sea conditions might be
kind to us. On check-in, our tour was
confirmed as ‘good to go’ with only a mild sea sickness warning. We hoped that this was only a ‘safety first’
minimum warning and that actually sea conditions were likely to be pretty
ideal. At the subsequent briefing, we
were advised that whales had been sighted on earlier tours and that we would
initially be heading out to the deep water trench at just four miles offshore.
Our
vessel, Wawahai, was immaculate, comfortable and soon had us speeding out
towards the feeding ground of the whales.
Our guide explained how to keep watch but not to shout “There she blows!”
as the Sperm Whales in these cool waters are all males. He was interrupted by the excited instruction
of our Watch Keeper to leave the cabin and head for the decks. Their enthusiasm was real enough and not just
because there would be no refunds needed on this tour!
Sperm Whale
Having
scrambled for the decks we did not return to the cabin again for more than 90 minutes. A succession of sightings in the area and the
calm seas allowed the captain to cruise between them with us safely remaining
on the decks. Our tour overlapped with a
later departure; we noted that their boat was the Tohora, named after that
legendary whale that carried a Maori ancestor to New Zealand.
Tohora
Finally
after an incredible seven separate sightings of Sperm Whales we had to leave the deep
waters. On the return trip we watched
out for other marine life and found Fur Seals, Wandering Albatross and the
small Hectors Dolphin which are rare and unique to New Zealand.
Wandering Albatross
Hectors Dolphin
Whale
Watch, Kaikoura was a brilliant experience; very professionally run from
booking to tour with great enthusiasm and humour. The couple who “Don’t do boats” thoroughly
enjoyed our tour.
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