This morning we had a short drive from our campsite at the end of the Clarence River to Kaikura, a small town that mainly caters to tourists desiring to see whales and dolphins. I really didn't do much on the first day, which was actually quite nice since we've been very busy lately. I did get a much needed shower, however. I also got my laundry done. These are very important things, especially when living in close proximity to my other group members. This evening Pacific Challenge group 3 (PC3) arrived at the hostel we were staying in, so I got to meet some of them. There are actually a couple fellow Florida Gators, which was pretty cool.
We went swimming with dolphins on the morning of the second day, which was an amazing experience. A company called "Encounter" organized the adventure. We got suited up with some really thick wet suits, masks, snorkels, and flippers. Then we watched a video and took a van out to the boat dock. Here are a couple pictures of the great views from the boat.
After maybe 15 minutes of driving out to sea, there was a huge group of dolphins (probably hundreds) just swimming along, and we got into the water right next to them. We had been told to attempt to mimic dolphin behavior by keeping our arms at our sides and making noises, which must have been pretty amusing to those people on board just watching. It was amazing how the dolphins would interact with us. Whenever I got one to notice me, the dolphin would swim in circles around me, and I would try to circle with it while maintaining eye contact. It worked pretty well, as I circled for what seemed like 30 seconds at a time with some dolphins. It was also fun to dive down toward the dolphins. If they ignored or left me, I would just go find another one. It was actually quite exhausting. I was definitely breathing hard, and several times I had to come to the surface, remove my snorkel, and catch my breath. It was a great experience, especially since we were swimming with wild dolphins. They were choosing to play with us, not being forced to do so. Here are a few dolphin swimming pics.
As we were heading back toward the boat dock, we were very fortunate to see several orcas (killer whales). I don't think that happens on every trip. Here's the best pic that I got.
1 comment:
Your pictures are beautiful. I'll read about them when I come back from my ballroom competition.
Post a Comment