Dolphin Discovery Tour
In The Bay of Islands

Staying in Russell we arrived just in time for the launch at the landing stage. The catamaran coming from Paihia had already landed. Our imagination was fueled by the movie series Flipper. Now we had the chance to meet wild dolphins in their natural habitat.

Bottlenose Dolphins

Hector Dolphins

View Bay of Islands in a larger map

Swimming with dolphins is dependent on weather conditions on the sea, the time of year and on the individual dolphin or the pod of dolphins. The Bay of Islands is visited all year round daily and in February and March frequently by bottle-nosed dolphins. Other species are sometimes present like Common Dolphins, Orcas and Bryde’s Whales.

Soon we met a pod of bottle-nosed dolphins the most extensively studied group. Without any hesitation they delighted their spectators with joyful and elegant jumps singularly or together. Mother dolphins and their calves swam inseparable side by side.

From the crew we learned some facts about these aquatic mammals. Depending on gender and region they are living in is their overall size from 1.9 m to 3.9 m. Maturity is defined by body size rather than age which in turn influences their first breeding time. Gestation is for up to 12 months. After the birth of one calf this will suckle for 2 to 3 years. The intervals between births are 3 to five years.

Watching these creatures on a dolphin discovery tour reflects clearly why they symbolize friendship and harmony. Maoris chose this symbolic meaning for their peaceful and social interaction between each other.

Find this symbolic meaning translated into traditional bone carvings.

Undisturbed this species reaches an age of up to 50 years for females and males between 40 and 45 years.

Lucky for us that animal rights activists and consumers refused to accept the high numbers of drowned dolphins in tuna nets. So that tuna canners were encouraged to can only shipments of fishing fleets that protect dolphins.

As mammals dolphins can drown. They return every 2 to 4 minutes to the water surface for exhalation and inhalation. Offshore this sequence can be longer. The affect on their sleep is that the brain is organised in two sections taking turns to rest. This prevents a dolphin from suffocation.

Leaving the pod behind the catamaran cruised to the Hole in the Rock and the lighthouse on Cape Brett. The hole is forced by the power of swell and tide into the stone and opens a passage way through the rock. Thanks to favourable sea conditions we were able to observe how the skipper skilfully steered our boat through.

The entrance of The Bay of Islands is marked by a historic lighthouse on Cape Brett. Full inside mechanism make it a valuable historic site.

Paihia

An offshore perspective is always exciting. The dolphin discovery tour launching from Paihia introduces wild dolphins and whales. Part of the picturesque impressions of the one hundred forty four islands forming inlets and bays is the visit of historic important sites. A Maori pa and the location of the first encounter between Europeans and Maori people are stops on the way as well as a stopover on the kiwi bird recovery island Moturua.

Auckland

Today we know the Hauraki Gulf at Auckland city's doorstep is a diverse marine park with sightings of as many as 22 marine mammal species. Find out about the Whale and Dolphin safaris, with a 90% success rate, commencing from Auckland harbour.

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