The Unexciting Whale
Last week in Kaikoura I paid $150 to go out on a boat to see a whale. Seeing one is not guaranteed, but happens 90%+ of the time and they give you most of your money back if the mission fails.
The trip is very professional, educational and entertaining. I learned a lot and was never bored. Highly recommended, unless the sea is rough and you don’t have sea legs. The spotting spots are 9 miles out but the boats are fast.
I got to see 2 sperm whales, one blue shark (not a fin, but looking directly down on it), some albatross and some seals doing yoga (on their back, wiggling their flippers).
If you divide a sperm whale into thirds (head, middle, tail), then you get to see their middle. After feeding they come up to the surface to rest. And that’s what you see – the middle of a whale, barely above the water, laying still. The only action is the blowhole pfffthing every 20 seconds or so.
And this is where things get weird. We are parked alongside this static whale for perhaps 15 minutes. Initially everyone is awestruck and excited. Then, well, nothing.
We are used to being entertained. After 5 minutes it got really boring, and people started staring off across the ocean, hoping for something else, anything else, to look at.
Reality Check – wildlife doesn’t exist for our entertainment. These huge (18 metres), old (40-50), intelligent beings who are very aware of our presence, don’t care about us at all.
When the whale decides to go feed again, they dive down and you get to see their tale. This is the money shot that everybody has their cameras ready for. Even though there are hundreds of whale tail photos out there much better than you can ever take, almost everyone experienced the tale through their camera. It was very quick, and OK.