Playing hard to get with the dolphins

The boat cruises slowly away from Akaroa and through the Akaroa Harbour. It’s only about 20 minutes into the trip when the first dolphins are spotted emerging at the surface of the water for air. Even the skipper and owner of the family business, Steve, commentates of the speakers saying it’s unusual to see dolphins this close into the harbour. Whatever the reason, it’s a sign for a good day of wildlife spotting.

Now that we have seen dolphins, the aim is to see if they are interested in the boat. Some will come for a swim under the bow gliding along with the currents for a minute, then leave, while others will stick around a bit longer providing some amazing photo ops! It’s impossible to miss them, as they don’t seem as quick as other species of dolphins. Steve stops the boat to see if they are still interested. When the dolphins look like they are not going anywhere, it’s time to put on the snorkel masks! We’re going swimming.

Time to swim!

One by one, we climb down a ladder at the back of the boat as to not scare the dolphins. Still, we want to do this as quick as possible to get over the shock of the chilly water. Soon enough, we are comfortable in our wetsuits and comfortable enough with our company to start some appalling song renditions to attract the dolphins. Kung Foo Fighting, The Final Countdown and I Want to Break Free seem to be a hit with the dolphins, as we spot a couple of curved dorsal fins coming our way. The next second, the dolphins are half a metre away from us just as curious of us as we are of them. We can’t describe the jolt of excitement we get when being so close to these magnificent creatures.

The dolphins are having a ‘hull’ of a time under the boat

Singing songs and dolphins making a mockery of us

It even feels that sometimes they are toying with us. Just when we think all the dolphins have gone and we start getting out of the water, the cheeky buggers come back making us quickly shuffle back down the ladder and sing like idiots again. Oh, those dolphins!

While 12 of us bob up and down in the water singing ’80s hits like mad people, the dolphins will come and go until we have two pods coming to join us. The best viewing is on the water’s surface, as the recent large swells in the harbour have stirred up the water making the visibility underneath a bit murky.

From smallest dolphins to smallest penguins

After about 45 minutes of dolphin swimming, we are moving on down the harbour when Steve spots a fishing boat completely surrounded by albatross. We make our way out for a closer look, spotting a little blue penguin, the world’s smallest penguin, along the way. Man, the variety of wildlife is crazy out here on the Akaroa Harbour!