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I want to see the whales!! There were days I wondered why we bothered to see anything else on the South Island because Tanya was soooo excited to see the whales at Kaikoura. We arrived mid-morning to take a whale watching trip. As we had previously encountered when trying to fly the weather plays a significant role in these trips. On this particular day the weather was overcast and the sea rough, so our outing was cancelled.<br />We were able to wander around the area and visit the seal colony, and the country side. The following day the weather was a bit more cooperative and we were able to take a trip out to sea. We were informed that we would see some natural sea life but that the average whales spotted per trip were usually 1-2.

Whale Watching in Kaikoura

Tanya
2006-03-10 20:02:47

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I want to see the whales!! There were days I wondered why we bothered to see anything else on the South Island because Tanya was soooo excited to see the whales at Kaikoura. We arrived mid-morning to take a whale watching trip. As we had previously encountered when trying to fly the weather plays a significant role in these trips. On this particular day the weather was overcast and the sea rough, so our outing was cancelled.
We were able to wander around the area and visit the seal colony, and the country side. The following day the weather was a bit more cooperative and we were able to take a trip out to sea. We were informed that we would see some natural sea life but that the average whales spotted per trip were usually 1-2.
We were also informed that we had very experienced whale watchers on board, but that if we wanted to help spot whales we could.... but that we should only yell if we saw a whale "blowing," nothing else counted. We quickly all became great whale spotters as we were surrounded by a pod of whales. We must have seen 8 or 9 sperm whales. All were
male whales. We were told that only males lived in the area because the water is too cold for the females. After the incredible viewing of the sperm whales we were off to search for other sea life when we encountered a pod of orca (killer whales). They played nearby for awhile. Orca do not "live" in the area but often travel through. They are fast travelers so are only in the area for a for a brief amount of time. We were very fortunate to see them. We also enjoyed some penguins and the great albatross. So, to meet Tanya's request We DID see the whales.