Wednesday 25 March 2009

Day with dolphins around Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty

This morning, we got up early to join the Butler's 'swim with dolphins' trip in the Bay of Plenty. We saw a lot of blue penguins resting in the water and tuna fish breaking through the surface. But by 2pm, there had been no signs of dolphins. We were getting seriously worried.

Then out of the blue, we saw a dolphin surface right next to the bow of our sailing boat, Gemini Galaxsea. We got into the water in our wetsuits and snorkelling gear, ready to try and swim with them. However, they decided they had something better to do (i.e. mate or eat) and disappeared.



Twenty minutes later, a large pod of dolphins (about 20 in total) started following our vessel. We got into the water again, holding onto the swim bar at the back of the boat. Apparently, this way the dolphins are less likely to be scared away by our presence. It worked, and we watched them swim under and around us. It was fantastic! Once we left the water, the dolphins stayed with the boat for 15 minutes, so we had time to take lots of pictures and videos.



Read our Rotorua and Taupo posting.

2 comments:

davidjwaugh said...

Liked the dolphins and the mud pools!

Speak soon
David

Anonymous said...

Katsottiin Teron kanssa videota just, olipas, olipas!! Ainutlaatuista - ja suuri lauma!
Me yritetaan ens kesana meidan veneel, jos saatais hylkeita seuraamaan meita... ollaan kuultu, etta kun viheltaa, ne seuraa!
terveisin, Arja (lahtee Lappiin hiihtamaan viikonloppuna) ja Tero (lahtee Espanjaan golfaamaan viikonloppuna)