It was an early morning for us to make our 8:30am departure time. Our leisurely mornings of coffee and breakfast was rushed with anticipation. We were pleased to see no marine layer, no breeze and intense sun all ready up for the day. Paul was very excited, and I of course was as well but also a bit nervous. We arrived at the headquarters about 15 minutes earlier and got our a small briefing before the wet suit fitting and we headed out.
What is really neat about this tour is that they are wild dolphins, they do not feed them to keep them around they are here because there is a huge canyon along this beach that has an abundance of nutrient and marine life. These dolphins travel in pods of 100 - 1000 and are just curious about those who are in the water and will come up to you to have a closer look. After we were fitted for our wet suites, snorkel and fins, we watched a safety video and they remind us that they spot the dolphins but can not make them interact with us, so it is up to the swimmers to make a lot of noise through your snorkel and move around but not splashing or aggressive movements as this will scare them away, bottom line is to be the dolphin, check.
The dusky dolphin is 165cm to 195cm in New Zealand they are the most acrobatic and are often seen jumping out of the water doing flips and crazy spins. We are told their are "slight seas" meaning the conditions are perfect and the 5:30am tour had a successful swim so they already knew where the pod was. We were also told that there are quite a few baby dolphins out as well! I never thought I would see another baby dolphin like the one at Abel Tasman, but here was our opportunity and I had my camera ready.
We are only on the boat for about 10 min before we spot our first dolphins. We are so excited, there at least 50 around our boat swimming around, and yes there were babies, everywhere! We took photos and video and nearly forgot that we could get in the water with them. Quickly getting our hoods and flippers on we went to the end of the boat waiting for the horn to tell us it was ok to get in the water.
On the back deck of the boat we and our fellow swimmers were looking into the crystal clear water in amazement at the dolphins right in front of us. The blow horn sounds, that was our que, and we slid into the water. It was cold but you quickly forget when a dolphin swims right by you! We stuck our faces down and watched as dolphins would swim underneath us, around us, beside us, looking at you like you are the animal in the zoo. Everytime I saw one I wanted to yell "Paul, Paul, did you see him!" However, since my snorkel was in my mouth I resisted. Paul had more interaction than I did, he would dive down just a little and do some spins, the dolphins really responded to this. As he would be spinning some dolphins would spin around him watching him! He even had a mama bring her baby a few feet down from his flippers and watch him for a moment before they swam off! At one point I could not see much underwater so I looked up, and luckily Paul was close so I pulled him up to see 5 dolphins jumping high out of the water. There seemed to be two in competition like who could jump higher or spin faster! It was so cool to watch them play below and above the water swimming right by us then jumping out just a few feet away.
Our horned sounded again and it was time to get back in the boat to chase the pod. On the boat is when we would see the most babies, the mom's did a good job of not bringing the cuties by the swimmers. Our second drop was not as successful as the first. The dolphins seem to be pretty spread out today so just a few came to check us out and the weird noises we were making from our snorkels. I looked up at Paul for just a second as a dolphin came within a couple inches of my left shoulder and did a swim by. You feel silly that they are all around you but you only see a few because they move so fast and are silent! Our horn sounded again and it was back on the boat to find more dolphins.
As we are waiting for our 3rd drop and are excited for having a third time in the water with them. This drop I only saw one guy swim under me and no body else was having much luck. I was seeing a lot more above water jumping so I decided to stay on the boat after this drop. Back on the boat I take off my wet suit and get the camera ready to take pics of Paul on his 4th and 5th drops. When the stupid camera tells me that I need to switch battery packs. Ugh!
Paul's 4th swim did not have many dolphins either, but he did have an Albatross in the water and it took off from the water. Paul got to see at water level how they run on the water and flap there massive wings to get air borne! What a treat to have Royal Albatross the largest wing span of a bird on earth! Another one flew by the boat, it was massive! They look fake, like someone did a bad stuff job and put a strange beak on them, and then when you throw a family of dolphins swimming right by it looking at its feet you think this is crazy, where am I and what is going to happen next.
Paul's 5th swim was the perfect way to end the day. It was like the first swim, dolphin central. At this point Paul's loud voice really paid off and the dolphin came to him and I was on the boat able to see from above as the dolphins were circling and checking him out! I think I had more fun watching from above, so often a dolphin would be right by a person and they had no idea because they were facing the other direction. Or they the dolphins would swim right through the group like a maze, but would swim with more of their body above water so the swimmers can't see them while looking down in the water. One dolphin looked like he would touch Paul he was swimming so close to him in a circle around him! The dolphins if very interested would do two or three laps around a person within a few feet just checking them out before swimming off. When Paul got back on the boat he said he could have touched a couple of them as they circled and checked him out and it was hard not to try to reach out to it. It was also such a cool experience to see all this going down from the boat, thank god for the crystal clear water. Looking in the eye of a wild animal that is very intelligent is a surreal experience. Knowing you are both thinking about and curious about each other, and for us knowing we are not going to get eaten is a plus. Then the horn sounded and Paul had to get back in the boat, sad to leave his new mates he got changed and we went to the bow of the boat and we watched them swim along side our boat as we made our way back to the dock, also spotted a seal and a couple more Albatross, how cool.
We showered and spent the rest of our day lounging by the pool of our motor camp, exhausted from the encounter and both reflecting on this amazing experience.
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