Akaroa
The morning dawned fine and sunny as we cruised into the picturesque and sheltered port of Akaroa. Situated on the south-eastern quarter of Bank’s Peninsula, this natural harbour is formed from the crater of an extinct volcano. But the sleepy town of Akaroa belies little about its origins.
Our mission for today was to swim with the world’s smallest oceanic dolphin – the endemic Hector’s dolphin. This endangered species, with its ‘Mickey Mouse’ dorsal fin is found throughout coastal areas of the South Island, particularly around river mouths and cloudy inshore areas. Affected by set-netting (gill-nets) which was used by recreational fishers around the New Zealand coast, protection and the banning of set-nets has resulted in the species future looking a little brighter. Education and conservation have led to an awareness of the plight of this species. So, it was with this in mind that we headed into the township, some of us choosing to do the local town tour, whilst others headed out on the local boats to swim with the dolphins. Those who ventured out early were in the end the lucky ones, as the successive groups that headed out met with unfriendly dolphins, which were more intent on feeding than playing. The first boat however had an excellent encounter with these little guys. Later boats saw little penguins (the white-flippered subspecies), spotted shags, and Hutton’s shearwaters, as well as getting good looks at the dolphins, but the wet-suits were not properly tested and no swimming was had. But, they are wild animals, and they choose when they want to play.
All back onboard, we had a bite to eat before heading back out into the open ocean in the mid-afternoon. The wind was being drawn in through the harbour by the warming of the land, but back out in the open Pacific there was little swell, and beautiful calm conditions. At first there were few birds, but as we cruised south and the wind freshened, the albatrosses started to appear. But it was all inside for a talk by Brent on the seabirds that have been, and will be encountered during the cruise. Not wanting to take up too much time, the talk was over and people retuned to on deck. At first we had a Northern Royal albatross, then several Salvin’s albatross. Hutton’s shearwaters drifted past, and a blue shark was spotted. It was very calm on the bow, and with such conditions the seabirds were few, but later, of course as the recap and briefing started, the wind shifted and the birds started to whip past the windows...Northern Royal, Southern Royal, wandering albatross, Salvin’s and white-capped albatross. Then a Westland petrel or two, a white-chinned petrel, and then during recap a Royal swept past the window giving stunning views...masters of the air!
