A gorgeous, sunny day on the rocky coast with the rolling hills and stunning snowcapped mountains of Kaikoura. National Geographic Orion was positioned just offshore to allow everyone to hop in a Zodiac and head to town for a tour to see magnificent albatrosses or a whale watching adventure.
Many people chose to take in the town before their respective tours and did some shopping and/or tasted the local seafood and real fruit ice cream. Those on the albatross tour went out to the edge of the incredibly deep underwater canyon that offers the correct conditions for a variety of bird species and marine life to thrive. Several types of albatrosses and petrels came close to see if there was anything of interest to eat.
The larger whale watching vessel headed out to sea to a different area of the canyon. They saw a sperm whale come up and breathe before returning to the depths to catch the giant squid they enjoy eating. A huge pod of hundreds of dusky dolphins came to interact with the whale boat, much to the delight of the passengers aboard.
Local oysters purchased in town were featured at dinner and a talk on plankton rounded out a great day in Kaikoura.
