Kaikoura's ideal dolphin swimming conditions come from its unique continental shelf system. It drops off dramatically 100 meters from shore, bringing "deap sea conditions" (800-1500 meters!) unusually close to human reach. Add 2 ocean currents that pass through, a pristine environment, and no hunting pressures, and you get healthy populations of whales, dolphins, seals, albatross etc. There are 15,000 dusky dolphins (the kind we swam with) living near Kaikoura.
Christian took this beautiful moonlit picture as our boat left shore at 6 AM - without a tripod!
I took most of the pictures on this little adventure - Christian was too seasick even for his camara (now you know that is bad!). However, he was not too sick to participate - in an amazing show of will, he swam the first round of the dolphin swim, got out, threw up, and made it back in by the third round!
Dusky dolphins love to jump and do flips, out of the water, for fun (well there are many explanations for why but that's the one I like), quite often. Imagine 300 of them surrounding the boat, jumping and flipping!
Being surrounded by them in the water was like nothing else. They are fast and huge! If you make a noise like a dolphin or swim in a circle they will get interested in you and do circles with you. And then jet off with a flip of a fin.
Christian and his new buddy at the Kaikoura seal colony.
I'm used to tourists.
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