Marine Tours & Wildlife
Kaikoura, with it's extremes of geography ranging from seashore to mountain top, has much to offer anyone interested in plants and wildlife. Plants, some of which are very rare, can be found in ecosystems as diverse as seashore, swamp, grassland, river bed, lake shore, bush or mountain top.
Kaikoura has an abundance of wildlife ranging from whales, the largest animals on earth, down to the endangered wetas and snails. A lot of these animals can be seen by just wandering about while others require a lot of effort and patience or a guided tour.
Seals
The New Zealand Fur seal is abundant around Kaikoura most of the year with three small breeding colonies amongst the haul outs. The seal population here is largely transient with most of the seals being males. They are friendly and inquisitive animals but they are wild animals that can and will bite if they are annoyed or harassed.
Leopard and elephant seals also occasionally visit the area to haul out for a rest.Unlike true seals, fur seals have visible ears and do not have a blubber layer, so they have fur for warmth. Male Fur Seals grow up to about 2 metres in length and weigh up to about 200kg. They have very thick necks and appear to have a mane. Because of this they are sometimes mistakenly called “sealions”.Females are of slimmer build and only weigh up to about 100kg. Although they look ungainly on land it is surprising how fast they can cross rough terrain.
Once in the water seals are truly graceful and inquisitive creatures. They can reach speeds of up to 50km/hr and have been recorded as deep as 274metres. Their dives average 3 - 5 minutes but can be as long as 11 minutes. They have been seen as far as 1000km off shore and one seal tagged in New Zealand was seen in Australia.In a breeding group there will be a dominant male with up to 30 females, which leads to fierce fighting among the bulls. Females start to breed at 3 - 4 years old. The gestation period, which they can control, is about 51 weeks. They give birth and mate again about 1 week later.
New Zealand Fur Seals were once found in abundance on the shores of both the mainland and offshore islands of New Zealand, but in the early 1800’s they were hunted to near extinction for their fur, which was used for hats, coats clothing etc. In 1824 one expedition alone took from 70 - 80,000 skins from the south of New Zealand. During the peak of the sealing trade no less than 400,000 skins were taken from the Antipodes Islands alone. Commercial Sealing was stopped by the Government in New Zealand in 1946.
Get up close to Kaikoura's Seal populations at the Seal Colonies near Jimmy Armers beach, and at Ohau Point, about 28 km North of Kaikoura. Kaikoura Kayaks run tours to the Seal Colony and around the peninsula, or get wet with the crew from Seal Swim Kaikoura, or Kaikoura Snorkelling Tours, who run fantastic tours.
Birds.
Sea birds found in the area include many varieties of Albatross, Dotterels, Herons, Gannets, Oyster catchers, Penguins, Petrels, Seagulls, Shearwaters, Shags or Cormorants, Terns, Pied Stilts and Wrybills.
Most of these can be seen year round but some are migratory and travel as far away as northern Asia. The Hutton’s Shearwater comes ashore only to nest high up in the mountains behind Kaikoura. Land birds include many native varieties such as Fantails, Bellbirds, and Brown Creeper, Keas, Moreporks, Robins, Rifleman, Tomtits, Wood pigeons and if you are lucky you may even see a rare native Falcon.Lake Birds include such rarities as the NZ Scaup, Crested Grebes and various types of Ducks and Swans. Many of these birds are can be seen on Department of Conservation Walks, or on guided walks with Kaikoura Wilderness Walks.
Bush & Mountain Creatures.
A native snail usually found only in warmer regions, three species of the endangered Giant Weta and the indigenous Kaikoura Black-eyed Gecko are hidden away in the high ranges along with other species of Skinks, Geckos and strange insects.
Dolphins
Dolphins are the largest group of the cetacean family with several species of these inhabiting New Zealand waters.The same nutrient rich waters that attract the whales attract large pods of Dusky dolphins to the waters around Kaikoura with occasional visits from Bottle nose, Common,and Southern Right Whale dolphins.
One of the world’s smallest and rarest, the Hectors Dolphin may be seen near the river mouths or the Haumuri Bluffs.Dolphins probably become sexually mature at 3 - 4 years and live for about 25 - 30 years. Like with humans, mating is usually preceded by courtship behaviour. They are very social animals and although seen individually or in small groups at times, they are usually in large pods sometimes numbering hundreds.
Dolphins differ from other mammals in that their breathing is conscious (they do not breathe automatically as humans do) thus when they require sleep, only half of the brain sleeps at a time. Sonar is highly developed and is used for navigation as well as echolocation of prey when hunting.
To swim with these animals can be an emotional experience.Dolphin swimming and Dolphin watching tours are run by Dolphin Encounter here in Kaikoura.
Dolphins are often visible from the shoreline, and can often be viewed from the Telescopes around Kaikoura, or when out with Kaikoura Fishing Tours , Kaikoura Fishing Charters or Kaikoura Kayaks tours around Kaikoura.
Whales Cetacean visitors to our waters include whales ranging in size from the largest of all, the Blue whale at up to 29 metres, down to the Pilot and Minke whales and include Beaked, Brydes, Fin, Humpback, Sei, Southern Right whales and Orcas.The Sperm whale can be seen all year round off Kaikoura and is the largest of the toothed whales. It is the third largest whale in the world, only beaten by the Blue and Fin whales.
One of the more unique features of the sperm whale is its unusual box like head that contains the largest brain in the world. It accounts for 1/3 of its total body length and well over a 1/3 of the whales body weight.
At Kaikoura they dive to depths of around 1000m (3000ft) but have been tracked to depths of around 2500m making them by far the deepest diving whale in the world. The whales spend about 45 minutes diving and then re-surface for about 10 minutes.The longest dive ever recorded was 2hrs 18min! During whaling times they were hunted for their Spermaceti Oil and Ambergris, used to intensify the smell of perfumes. Unfortunately, with so many nations hunting whales, reaching international agreements on quotas was never easy. In less than 200 years, New Zealand’s once thriving whale populations had been virtually wiped out. On December 23, 1964 New Zealand’s last whale station closed. Future recovery depends on how we treat the fragile balance of the food chain, from the phytoplankton and zooplankton to the largest mammals of all. Overfishing by humans may well threaten their survival in future years.
Whale watching can be done with Whalewatch Kaikoura by boat, Kaikoura Helicopters, Air Kaikoura and Wings Over Whales by air.