Dolphin Encounter Update December 2009

7/01/10

 

Welcome to the Dolphin Encounter® update for December 2009. 

Weather conditions at the beginning of December brought lots of rain, strong winds and rough seas, however toward the middle of the month the weather brightened with some gloriously warm summer days. However during the glorious hot weather in the latter part of December, we did get a very cold southerly with snow on our mountains. This made for an amazing site next day with a beautiful sunny day and an impressive layer of snow along the tops of our mountains.

The dolphins have been fantastic with pod sizes varying from 100-800 dolphins. The dolphins have been located in areas such as Goose Bay, Black Rock and offshore of the Spyglass with all locations being a maximum 35 minute journey away. 

We’ve also been experiencing swims that we like to call “one-droppers” which is where we are able to conduct just one swim due to highly interactive dolphins. During the swim, the dolphins quite literally prefer to stay and play with the human species rather than their own kind. Obviously, we’ve had some fantastic dolphin entertainers amongst our swimmers who have managed to captivate the dolphin’s attention for just that little bit longer. 

We continue to enjoy watching the interaction between swimmers and the duskies and on occasion have spotted the odd common dolphin in amongst them. The common dolphins are sometimes quite easy to point out as they prefer to bow-ride our boats rather than interact with swimmers, so we’re able to see the visible comparisons. 

We’ve also been fortunate over several weeks to see a black or melanistic dusky dolphin with the pod. The black dusky is the same species however it has no white colouration, so looks very unusual. As well as bow-riding, it's been seen performing some great acrobatic displays including full backward flips, obviously a playful individual indeed! 

The calves are growing all the time with some mums gradually introducing their calves to our swimmers, an extra special treat for people. They’re also putting on an entertaining display as they attempt their first few jumps, leaping out of the water, tail flapping, before “belly-flopping” back onto the water. It will take a while before they can copy their mum’s amazing acrobatic antics.  

There have been some wonderful sightings of orca (killer whales) passing through our waters. The orcas here are transient, which means they don’t live in any particular area. Generally we see them on average every 3-4 weeks during the summer months. In mid-December we had 3 sightings of different pods within 1 week. On one occasion we had a pod of at least 10 individuals and the most incredible encounter with them. The orcas showed so much interest in our boat (Delphinidae) that they were swimming right alongside our boat. With crystal clear water we were able to view them gracefully swimming under the water. They also seemed to enjoy playing with the bubbles at the back of the boat as if obtaining a “spa” from our wake. 

We also had a Christmas surprise from a pod of orca including the famous male Nobby. He is a 5 year old male who was stranded in the North Island in 2008 and was successfully rescued. His adventures have been tracked ever since and although he has spent most of his time in the north Island, he surfaced with his pod on Boxing Day here in Kaikoura. It’s believed that he is on a quest to find a mate. 

Well, with summer well and truly underway we look forward to a continuation of great weather and fantastic dolphins. 

From all of us at Encounter Kaikoura, we wish everyone a very happy 2010. 

So, till next time…………

 

Tour Photos