Kia Ora! Our wishes came true and the weather held which meant that whale watching was a go! We set out early for Kaikōura, stopping for a morning tea time at Pūkeko Junction. Pretty soon we’ll be considered regulars there. With the clouds gone, we were able to see the Kaikōura mountain range as we drove.
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| Kaikōura mountains |
Half of the group went whale watching. From land, the ocean seemed deceptively calm, but as we drove into deeper waters the ocean swells felt like a rollercoaster. It wasn’t long before we spotted our first whale: a sperm whale.
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| The whale watch group |
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| Reenacting Titanic in the waves |
Sperm whales are the largest of the toothed whales and are the largest toothed predator in the world. Their diet consists mainly of deep sea squid (including the notorious giant squid) and fish, though they are known to eat sharks as well, including the great white shark. To get to their preferred prey, sperm whales will dive for up to 2 hours at a time, though they average around 45-60 minutes per dive. After a dive, they’ll stay at the surface for 5-15 minutes to replenish their oxygen supply before diving again. Sperm whales are common around Kaikōura (and there are even a few residents) because of the Kaikōura Canyon, an underwater canyon that runs close to shore in this area. Here the water drops rapidly from 100 feet to 2,000+ feet deep. Giant squid are known to inhabit the Kaikōura canyon and it may even be a breeding ground for them.
We caught the whale right as it dove and were able to track its dive progress by listening to it echolocate. Sperm whales stop echolocating when returning to the surface, so we waited for about 40 minutes and as it returned to the surface we were ready for it. The whale, a resident male named Mati Mati, stayed at the surface for about 10 minutes then gave us a great view of his tail as he dived back down.
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| Sperm whale at the surface |
We were also lucky enough to catch two humpback whales feeding. Thankfully, humpbacks don’t stay submerged to feed as long as sperm whales and we saw them perform several feeding dives.
In addition to the whales, we also saw cape petrels, the smallest species in the petrel family Procellariidae, and northern giant petrels, the largest species in Procellariidae. Several curious seals also swam alongside the boat and we caught a glimpse of a black-browed albatross.
Cape petrel
The other half of the class spent the time hiking the Kaikōura Peninsula Walkway. This Walkway stretches 11.7 km along the rocky coastline, though they didn’t do the whole thing. They had to dodge fur seals in the path, but the views were worth it. They started up the trail to the cliff’s edge and were greeted with beautiful views of the ocean with the Kaikōura Mountain Range behind them. The cliff top had small patches of native bush, including Mousehole Tree (ngāio), Flax (harakeke), and Kawakawa. From the tops of the cliffs, not only could you see the beautiful ocean and intimidating mountains, but you could also see the rocky shelves along the coastline that were uplifted from the 2016 earthquake. This area, previously an intertidal zone home to small fish and kelp, now provides a new spot for fur seals to sleep and take in the sun! The walk back took them down the cliff and to the shore. They started the hike at the perfect time to catch the tide pools at low tide. The tide pools had adorable soft coral anemones and small sea plants.
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| View during the hike |
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| Tide pools |
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| Coral anemones |
After reconvening, we tried one more New Zealand delicacy: white bait, small whole-cooked fish. The idea of eating whole fish freaked some people out, but others thought it tasted good.
White bait fritter
We made one more stop for coffee before we headed back to Christchurch for the night.
See you tomorrow!
Veronica
Awesome to see a sperm whale!
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