Kaikoura, apart from being known for crayfish, is world renowned for its sperm whales.
We knew little of the crayfish (bonus for us) but did know about the whales, which was our main reason for coming here. It still didn’t make it any easier to get out of bed at 6.15 though! This is supposed to be a holiday! However, the thought of seeing our cetacean friends “up close and personal” was compensation enough for leaving our nice warm beds! Ron also took the opportunity of getting some lovely early morning shots of the mountain range – bathed in pink dawn light – hope they look good on the to you – they look great on the tiny lappie!
Margery’s well known lack of sea legs is by now well known..I thought things were improving, until I saw and heard the “sea sickness” warnings on the departure board, and from the staff at the briefing. When I saw the size of the boat (much smaller than anything else we’ve been on) I was much more apprehensive. We knew the boats had to go at least 6 miles out to get to the Kaikoura Canyon – undersea trench over 3000 feet deep, as this is where the whales are ( they regularly dive to 1000m for their food). Then came the call for anyone with neck injuries, who was pregnant, or who suffered with sea sickness to board first and sit at the stern, as this was more stable. Oooo er...what have I let myself in for? Just to put your mind at rest, the boat goes so fast, they insist on everyone being seated inside during fast passages, and that children wear life jackets at all times....Errr? Help!
It was very bouncy – and I just managed to hold onto my very frugal breakfast! There were others who not so fortunate. (One of the recommendation for sea sickness suffers is to eat a hearty breakfast, a good fry up for example! I’ve never found that works! Or to keep your eye on the horizon or the mainland...a little difficult when the captain, with the boat already slewing in two dimensions, decides to do a speedy pirouette off in the opposite direction after yet another whale! My insides have calmed down, but my head’s still spinning! Ron, of course, is pretty well bomb proof in a boat and feels fine! Grrrrr! Not fair!
A bit about whales that you can Google of course, but here it is anyway! The main whale generally found here is the male sperm whale, which grows to 18meters in length – the ladies apparently prefer warmer water, so stay up in the tropics. It was therefore inappropriate for the cry “There SHE blows!” to be heard – we didn’t want to upset the fellas feelings!
These specific whales main diet is giant squid, bottom feeding sharks, and other large fish. They are known by their dorsal fin and tail markings, and they stay submerged the longest of any whale species ( up to 2hr 35mins), but normally more like 30 -45 minutes. The sonar sensing is done by 2.5 tonne of spermaceti, inside the whales head and its brain weighs 10 pounds (about the size of a basketball).
This species is now the greatest in number being around 4000 in the world. We saw 5 today. The other species each number 400 maximum!
It’s hard to describe the feeling you get, sitting alongside such enormous creatures. It’s almost like looking at the monsters from “Jurassic Park”, they are so huge – and yet only 2/3 of their length is above the water at any one time – the tail section being submerged until they dive. Just a very small amount of their draught is above the water – we estimate about 1/10. Even their eyes are underwater all the time. Their sonar sensing, however, is so sensitive, that we could only approach from the rear or side, or they would dive away from us.
Unlike the dolphin, who gave no warning of dive or jump, the whales gave a very clear indication that they were about to dive. On the surface, they look a bit like a very large floating log in shape. As they prepare to dive, they arch their bodies, driving their enormous heads down into the water, and bringing their tail section up, to give the very characteristic picture that we were, fortunately, able to catch! And of course, being so very large, it almost seems to happen in slow motion. We felt very privileged to see 5 of these marvellous creatures in 2 ½ hours...M was very glad it was only 2 ½ hours, not the whole day we spent with the dolphin!
We have retired to the inside because it is too hot to sit in the sun, and far too bright to see the photos on the cameras and computer....so feel especially lucky that you have got a blog today as the pool and spas are beckoning!
Think I’ll have NZ lamb for dinner today. It will be the first lot I’ve tried living on pulses and lentil and lettuce and.....
We knew little of the crayfish (bonus for us) but did know about the whales, which was our main reason for coming here. It still didn’t make it any easier to get out of bed at 6.15 though! This is supposed to be a holiday! However, the thought of seeing our cetacean friends “up close and personal” was compensation enough for leaving our nice warm beds! Ron also took the opportunity of getting some lovely early morning shots of the mountain range – bathed in pink dawn light – hope they look good on the to you – they look great on the tiny lappie!
Margery’s well known lack of sea legs is by now well known..I thought things were improving, until I saw and heard the “sea sickness” warnings on the departure board, and from the staff at the briefing. When I saw the size of the boat (much smaller than anything else we’ve been on) I was much more apprehensive. We knew the boats had to go at least 6 miles out to get to the Kaikoura Canyon – undersea trench over 3000 feet deep, as this is where the whales are ( they regularly dive to 1000m for their food). Then came the call for anyone with neck injuries, who was pregnant, or who suffered with sea sickness to board first and sit at the stern, as this was more stable. Oooo er...what have I let myself in for? Just to put your mind at rest, the boat goes so fast, they insist on everyone being seated inside during fast passages, and that children wear life jackets at all times....Errr? Help!
It was very bouncy – and I just managed to hold onto my very frugal breakfast! There were others who not so fortunate. (One of the recommendation for sea sickness suffers is to eat a hearty breakfast, a good fry up for example! I’ve never found that works! Or to keep your eye on the horizon or the mainland...a little difficult when the captain, with the boat already slewing in two dimensions, decides to do a speedy pirouette off in the opposite direction after yet another whale! My insides have calmed down, but my head’s still spinning! Ron, of course, is pretty well bomb proof in a boat and feels fine! Grrrrr! Not fair!
A bit about whales that you can Google of course, but here it is anyway! The main whale generally found here is the male sperm whale, which grows to 18meters in length – the ladies apparently prefer warmer water, so stay up in the tropics. It was therefore inappropriate for the cry “There SHE blows!” to be heard – we didn’t want to upset the fellas feelings!
These specific whales main diet is giant squid, bottom feeding sharks, and other large fish. They are known by their dorsal fin and tail markings, and they stay submerged the longest of any whale species ( up to 2hr 35mins), but normally more like 30 -45 minutes. The sonar sensing is done by 2.5 tonne of spermaceti, inside the whales head and its brain weighs 10 pounds (about the size of a basketball).
This species is now the greatest in number being around 4000 in the world. We saw 5 today. The other species each number 400 maximum!
It’s hard to describe the feeling you get, sitting alongside such enormous creatures. It’s almost like looking at the monsters from “Jurassic Park”, they are so huge – and yet only 2/3 of their length is above the water at any one time – the tail section being submerged until they dive. Just a very small amount of their draught is above the water – we estimate about 1/10. Even their eyes are underwater all the time. Their sonar sensing, however, is so sensitive, that we could only approach from the rear or side, or they would dive away from us.
Unlike the dolphin, who gave no warning of dive or jump, the whales gave a very clear indication that they were about to dive. On the surface, they look a bit like a very large floating log in shape. As they prepare to dive, they arch their bodies, driving their enormous heads down into the water, and bringing their tail section up, to give the very characteristic picture that we were, fortunately, able to catch! And of course, being so very large, it almost seems to happen in slow motion. We felt very privileged to see 5 of these marvellous creatures in 2 ½ hours...M was very glad it was only 2 ½ hours, not the whole day we spent with the dolphin!
We have retired to the inside because it is too hot to sit in the sun, and far too bright to see the photos on the cameras and computer....so feel especially lucky that you have got a blog today as the pool and spas are beckoning!
Think I’ll have NZ lamb for dinner today. It will be the first lot I’ve tried living on pulses and lentil and lettuce and.....
Oooo YOU GIT!! You have been, quite happily eating veggie with me while we’ve been camping - OUT OF CHOICE! And it’s far from lentils and pulses....prawns, marlin, mussels..etc! Cheeky!
Last night’s Indian meal was very veggie and very nice dear!
Yep, but you forgot the prawns malabari and fish marsala!
So glad you were so lucky with your whale watching! Fabulous photos including the early morning one! Well done on getting the tail photo!!!!
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