Thar She Blows

…out walking on the Aramoana Mole when we noticed the Monarch (local tourist boat) edging in on something large….

…humpback whales!!!….Mum & calf (not caught on camera) flollopping about at the harbour mouth for a good 6 or seven dives before we abandoned play because of an incoming Southerly front…

…got back to the crib, grabbed a cuppa, wandered out to the beach to see if they were still about and was treated to one or ‘tother slapping their tail on the surface 7 or 8 times then proceeding to flip over and slap the water with both flippers ….(too busy waving my arms about and shouting encouragement to take photos, sorry)…then they proceeded to swim into the harbour channel, which at their closest put them within 30 meters of us,  so we followed them on foot as far as the extreme southern end of the Aramoana spit….not far on an incoming tide! ….till we lost sight of them almost opposite the Otakou Marae…

….not many photos, I know, but there was so much running and looking to be done, I couldn’t find the time.

…(yay, whales).

Food For Thought

…if my government was a giant Japanese Monster Movie Monster he’d need a healthy diet…

 

…and as a Japanese Monster Movie Monster he could claim “scientific” whalers as part of his customary diet.

I Went To The Beach And All I Got Was

…this photo of the sun shining on tidal ripples…

…which is a shame really because we walked round the point on the Aramoana spit and waited for a departing log ship to go past… it’s a “tight” squeeze at the head of the Otago harbour, so it’s quite a buzz to watch the boats go past from the old pilots jetty, up close and personal…

…even more exciting when you realise that there is a pod of 50 to 60 bottle nose dolphins riding the ships wake…

Wahoo!!

…they broke off at the harbour mouth and looked to be heading out to sea…

…but returned with the pilot boat, who circled and played with them for about 5 minutes, just inside the harbour mouth, between Taiaroa Heads and the Mole… finally breaking off and leaving them to mill about long enough for the Monarch wildlife boat to give their passengers 5-10 minutes of full on dolphin fun…

…all observed from shore by me and my good friend Dee…

…nope, too busy looking and yahooing to take any pic’s…

…so sand is all you get.

Oh…if it makes you feel any better…

…my good friend Dee called the next day to say that, after I left, a whale was blowing and sounding just beyond the harbour mouth!!!… at least she doesn’t have a camera to forget to use.