Orca!

Had an amazing day yesterday. The morning started off pretty foggy but Manuel, Kate and I went out on the boat. On the passage out to find a sperm whale I spotted a few seals playing in the water, and around 20 dusky dolphins swam past the boat perhaps moving away from some orca that had been spotted that morning north of the peninsula. We managed to find Tiaki, the same sperm whale we tracked a few days ago and stuck with him for six or seven dives. We got some really interesting observations including some clicking at the surface, and most of his dives were over a sea mount 874m deep with the surrounding canyon around 1000m.

Sperm whale fluke sequence

Heading back to South Bay the low cloud lifted and the sun came out. The orca from the morning were reported to be on the south side of the peninsula, close to South Bay so we kept an eye out and managed to spot a few! One of the whale watching boats moved in for a look and two orca (a youngish female and a juvenile, I think) checked out their boat before heading over to us. They seemed pretty curious and came right up to the back of the boat, close enough to touch and I managed to get some good pictures. There also appeared to be another mother and calf, and another adult female around which we spotted but they didn’t come so close. That’s the first time I’ve seen them in the wild and they were really awesome to see!

Sperm Spot!

Managed to get a bit more of a start on the research in the past few days. Had a little training in using PAMGUARD, the acoustic software we use linked to the hydrophone. Also managed to get up to the land station on the peninusla, and spotted a few sperm whales and took some pictures.

South Bay, on the south side of the Kaikoura peninsula.

Yesterday I got my first trip out on Titi, our research boat. We found a sperm whale and followed it for four surfacings. Whilst heading out from our launch in South Bay we spotted a few NZ fur seals in the water, were joined by a lovely wandering albatross, and saw a shark fin break the surface.

Wandering Albatross

Kaikoura

Arrived in Kaikoura to beautiful sunshine... which lasted about half an hour before the wind and cloud set in, and which have yet to leave. The weather should be improving over the next few days, so hopefully there will be some boat trips in the near future.

All set up at the Dusky Lodge, got my own double room all sorted and working on reception each evening. It's a nice place, pretty big so there's always lots of people around, close to a supermarket and the town centre.

On the research side of things not much to report yet. Have been to the boat shed and been shown all the equipment, and talked through some of the project work. Met all of the team who seem great, and looking forward to really getting in to the work.

Also managed to see a great band on my first night here called Roy G and the BIVinators... odd name but good music.

Hopefully there will be more interesting news to report soon.

Arrival

Finally landed in Christchurch after seemingly endless hours flying. Uneventful, which I suppose is what you're after 35,000ft up. Had plenty of time to watch some movies, some good ones too. The Informant (must see, very entertaining Matt Damon was great), (500) Days of Summer, Up, This is It, and Moon (also well worth a watch, Sam Rockwell very good). By the time I had got the the hostel and checked in it was about 5.30, so I had a quick wander around the city centre, grabbed some food and I think it won't be too long before I'm in bed! Quite an early start tomorrow to catch the bus to Kaikoura.
Good to be back in New Zealand.

Setting the scene

I first visited Kaikoura almost five years ago whilst travelling on my gap year. A small town set in a beautiful location, and from where I took a boat to catch my first glimpse of the mighty sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). So when an opportunity arose to move out there and study sperm whales I could hardly say no.

I will be based in the small town from 14th January whilst I volunteer on the research project during January, February, April, May and June. As yet I don't know what I will be doing in March or exactly when I will return to the UK... I'll play it by ear.
For at least the first few months I have secured my own double room at the Dusky Lodge in exchange for some evening work on reception. I have also been granted a working holiday visa valid for 12 months, so if necessary I can pick up some part time work to boost my bank balance.

This blog will serve as my way of letting everyone back home keep track of what I'm up to. Check back for more info. about the project I will be working on, photos and stories of my general exploits whilst I am in New Zealand.

Hopefully some of it will interest all of you... or perhaps all of it will interest some of you!