Away From Four Marks: 2nd February - Kaikōura, New Zealand

We cruised overnight south along the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. We awoke to a landscape of distant mountains lit up by the morning sunshine, as the ship made its way into the bay where it would anchor. It was quite a spectacular sight

Kaikōura is located on the East Coast of the South Island between Ōtautahi Christchurch and Picton. The towering mountains that are snow clad for many months of the year, known as the Seaward Kaikōura’s provide a stunning backdrop over the town which extends out to the Kaikōura Peninsula, where the waves of the Pacific Ocean roll in.

These mountains rise to heights are 2600m and the undersea canyon plunges to depths of over 1200m very close to shore, these two factors alone make Kaikōura incredibly unique.

With a population of approximately 3,200 residents, the Kaikoura township is located on a rocky peninsula, protruding from lush farmland beneath the mountains. In the waters off the peninsula, a complex marine system provides an abundantly rich habitat for marine mammals and seabirds

Kaikōura has a fascinating history, archaeological remains indicate that Moa Hunters inhabited the peninsula 900 years ago. In Maori legend, Maui placed his foot on the Kaikoura peninsula to steady himself while he ‘fished-up’ the North Island. The Maori name Kaikoura translates to ‘meal of crayfish’ (Kai – food, koura – crayfish), and it is crayfish for which the region has traditionally been famous. The area’s abundant food sources attracted Maori settlement, and the remains of several pa sites can still seen on the peninsula to this day.

In 1770 Captain Cook first discovered the Kaikoura peninsula, believing it to be an island. The first shore whaling station was established in 1843, located near where Fyffe House still stands today. Other whaling stations soon followed, and at one stage the industry employed over one hundred men in the Kaikoura district alone. Whale numbers steadily declined after 1850 and the exportation of them became un-economic, leading whalers to turn to alternative means of existence, such as farming. Whaling continued sporadically until as recently as 1964 when the last of NZ’ s whaling operations ceased.

Today, the emphasis in Kaikoura is the conservation of marine life, working with a sustainable tourist industry which allows visitors from all over the world to appreciate life in the ocean. And it is this that we were here to enjoy

Being anchored off shore we had to tender from the ship to shore, it was than a case of waiting to board our whale watching catamaran, we were the second tour of the day so hopefully te first boats out had located some whales. As we waited I walked around the pier, birds were resting on the white rocks visible just off shore. This is a Sooty Oystercatcher, very similar to the European Oystercatcher with the red bill and eye but almost all black.

Little Pied Cormorant or Shag as they are called in Ne Zealand.

We stood about for quite awhile and I was taken by the reflections in the water.

And a Jellyfish that drifted past.

I was initially disappointed it wasn't possible to be outside as we set off, but the boat was fast and this would help if we had to go into deep water. It wasn't long before I finally saw my first albatross, it came alongside the boat and despite being inside I was able to get some acceptable views of this Shy or White-capped Albatross, with a dark grey cheeks and white cap to the head.

Wing tip dipping in the water.

Incredible how with no wing movement they travel at such speed, using the uplift from the waves.

The Shy Albatross is known locally as a mollymawk. The mollymawks are a group of medium-sized albatrosses. They are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, where they are the most common of the albatrosses. They were long considered to be in the same genus as the great albatrosses, Diomedea, but a study of their DNA showed that they should have their own genus.

We came across a large pod of Common Dolphin and the catamaran slowed up and we were allowed outside.

While most of those onboard were taken by the dolphins, I noticed a large Albatross on the water. This was a true Albatross, a Northern Royal Albatross. As the boat drifted we came very close, the Albatross becoming a little nervous and raising it's huge wings.

The Northern Royal was split from the closely related southern royal albatross as recently as 1998, though not all scientists support that conclusion and some consider both of them to be subspecies of the royal albatross.

The main differences in the Northern Royal is it is slightly smaller than the Southern and has an all black upper wing, where the Southern shows a significant amount of white

The nasal passages that attach to the upper bill are called naricorns, the nostrils on the albatross are on the sides of the bill. The bills of the albatrosses are also unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates.

It allowed us to drift close, although always kept an eye on us.

Another albatross came close this time another Mollymawk, Salvin's Albatross with the all grey head.

Closer in a Shy Albatross with the white cap.

It didn't stay around like the Royal.

W set off again, not to far away from the mainland, but soon slowed again, this time for something special, Orca. The towering dorsal fin of the male Orca

Females and young Orca.

The male once again.

The male alongside a female, with a youngster alongside the female.

They were quite happy to cruise alongside us and may have been sleeping as they frequently broke the water to breath. A female with the youngster.

And a good profile of either a female or adolescent.

As we left the Orca, the view back along the mainland and the mountain range looked a lot different.

We left the area and headed out into the deeper water, in search of Sperm Whale. Males are found in the area at this time of year while the female tend to stay further north in the warmer water. We came across a large bull swimming along on the surface.

The Sperm Whale is the largest toothed predator, and here they dive into the depths to feed on squid. The ocean here being around a 1000 metres deep. They spend time at the surface, reoxygenating before diving once again.

The Sperm Whale has only one nostril and their spout is distinctive being an angled spray of water.

In the rough sea, the water rolled off the huge body that took on the appearance of a submarine.

The small, distinctive dorsal fin and the ripples along the sides of the body.

Then after the whale had spent time on the surface breathing, the body arched signalling the moment a lot of those on the boat were waiting for.

It was time for the great whale to dive and the tail was raised, with water dripping off the huge fluke.

And the Sperm Whale slipped away into the deep.

Here is a map of the route we took out into the deep water.

From the deep water we headed towards the mainland and close to the shore where we came across several, much smaller ceteceans, the Hector's Dolphin. Hector's dolphin is the only cetacean endemic to New Zealand and comprises two subspecies: C. h. hectori, the more numerous subspecies, also referred to as South Island Hector's dolphin.

Hector's dolphin is the smallest dolphin species. Mature adults have a total length of 1.2–1.6 m The species is sexually dimorphic, with females being about 5–7% longer than males.

The body shape is stocky, with no discernible beak. The most distinctive feature is the rounded dorsal fin, with a convex trailing edge and undercut rear margin.

There was also a surprise, a small dolphin with them was a newly born baby.

And some lovely video footage of Mum and Baby swimming around the boat.

Another surprise, in amongst them a Little Blue Penguin.

The overall coloration appearance of the Hector's Dolphin is pale grey, but closer inspection reveals a complex and elegant combination of colours. The back and sides are predominantly light grey, while the dorsal fin, flippers, and flukes are black. The eyes are surrounded by a black mask, which extends forward to the tip of the rostrum and back to the base of the flipper. A subtly shaded, crescent-shaped black band crosses the head just behind the blowhole. The throat and belly are creamy white, separated by dark-grey bands meeting between the flippers. A white stripe extends from the belly onto each flank below the dorsal fin.

We left the dolphins and headed back to shore, quite a successful morning. After a walk around the town streets we headed back to the boat. We left at around 17:00 in overcast conditions, as we headed out into deeper water we were joined by the fourth albatross species of the day, this time the Southern Royal Albatross.