The ten of us got fitted for wetsuits, fins and snorkel masks at the Seal Swim shop in central Kaikoura, then took a short bus trip out to another part of the peninsula to get the boat (driven by our guide and the company owner's dad, nicknamed Herbie). We got a short lowdown on the history of fur seals in the area: hunted almost to extinction point in the early 1900s due to their highly-prized fur, they were finally protected in the 1940s. Since then their numbers have flourished; an endangered animal rehabilitation success story.

Then we got out on the boat - it was a pretty rough ride! Sitting at the front clearly hadn't been a good idea as me and another girl got the full force of the waves splashing over the bow and the hard slap of the boat against the rough sea. One the way Herbie pointed out a tiny blue penguin bobbing along on the waves.

We stop the boat at an area of rocks a little offshore, stick on our masks and flippers and jump in. The water is cold, but nothing like the UK! At first we have little luck spotting seals in the water; they are mostly contentedly stretched out on the warm rocks sunny themselves. We spot only one under water and bob up just in time to see it leap out of the water and dive back in again. The Herbie signals that he has found some in the water around an outcrop of rock facing the open sea.

When we all swim round there we find 4 or 5 (it's hard to keep track, they move so fast) young seals in the water. The first time I see two of them dive and spin underwater is breathtaking ; they come so close, and are so graceful and swift - a huge contrast to their lumbering clumsiness onshore. The young ones seem curious - getting close enough for us to almost touch (though we've been warned not to), then spinning away, swimming underneath or around us, the whites of their large eyes glinting in the underwater gloom. Sometimes when the visibility is lower they would suddenly appear in front of you, then zip off leaving a trail of bubbles behind them. In the end we swim for about an hour with them before clambering back on the boat, everyone grinning and feeling high off the experience.

It was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced, made so much better by the fact that the seals were completely wild and did not need to be around us, or stick around in the water with us for so long.

written by  LizIsHere on February 11, 2010 from Kaikoura, New Zealand
from the travel blog: New Zealand & Australia 2010
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I have just gone very green reading this ---you lucky thing!

written by  julia c on February 15, 2010

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