SWIMMING WITH THE DUSKY DOLPHINS!

February 11, 2011

Well another adventure came my way a couple days ago!  It was time to jump into the Pacific Ocean and have a morning swim with the wild Dusky dolphins!  The adventure began early; we were all up by 5:00am!  I was so excited for this adventure, as I have only seen dolphins at a zoo, and I thought this would be my absolute favorite experience.  Getting all suited up in our wetsuits just made me anticipate the fun!  Finally it was time to get on the boat and begin looking for a pod of dolphins.  The waves were VERY large, and I was a bit nervous about swimming in the ocean with waves that big, but I was ensured that my wetsuit was boyant, and I wouldn’t sink!  Finally, a pod of dolphins was spotted.  The captain estimated about 200 dolphins, and we were ready to get put into the water!  The horn sounded and I slid off the back of the boat into the deep, cold, Pacific Ocean.  It wasn’t long and I saw dolphins all around me!  It was such an amazing sight!  They were so fast, and their bodies were silky smooth and would slide right past me.  They seemed very excited that we were in the water with them, interacting with us and being very curious about us.  After approximately 10 minutes, I felt it… My stomach began twisting and I knew I had to get out of the water.  I motioned to the people on the boat that I needed to come back in.  Upon getting back into the boat I got seasick… Unfortunately, my dolphin adventures ended there.  I ended up sick the rest of the boat ride, and was unable to get any photographs, or get back into the water with the dolphins because of this.  I am so happy that I was able to go into the water for a while, but I am disappointed that I got sick.  It was not fun being sick on that boat, however I was not alone!  I am hoping if I ever get to swim with dolphins again, that the water is very calm!  J

On the way to Kaikoura we stopped because of the seals on the rocks.  It was great to see them! 

More seals! 

Another picture of the scenery on our way to Kaikoura.  

And again... 

I love the mountains! 

This was the view after walking out of the front door of our hostel in Kaikoura.  Just amazing! 

Again, the view from our hostel.  The ocean was just across the road, and the mountains just past it.  So great! 

This was the sunset.  

Again... So pretty! 

Awake at 5am! woo hoo! 

Mandy and I (Before we got sick.... )

This is the weather we went out in.  It was pretty crazy!