In Auckland, New Zealand, Cory and I decided we would go on a Marine Wildlife viewing tour. The animal we saw the most of during this tour was the so called Short Beaked Common Dolphin. We saw other animals, but these dolphins kept following the boat, seemingly enjoying playing in the wake and bow wake of our catamaran type vessel.
Cory and I stood port side bow as we searched for wildlife. After about 30 minutes the boat seemed to be surrounded by dolphin or porpoise or whatever. These dolphins are called Common, however I don't believe I have seen these type of Dolphins before. Growing up on the East Coast, I was near the water and have seen Dolphin, but these did not look to me like the dolphin, common off shore in Virginia Beach. But then again I am not a porpoise specialist.
I can say that until this trip I have never seen Dolphin so close in my life. As the Dolphin played in the wake near the bow, I feared we would hit or injure one of these beautiful animals. On several occasions pairs of mothers and calves breached and swam very close to our vessel. They put on quite a show.
Eventually we reached a spot pretty far off shore, where the Dolphin seemed to trail off and stay behind. We found other wildlife here, but more on that later. As we returned toward the city of Auckland, the dolphin came back and put on another show for us, almost all the way to the harbor. Each marine wildlife tour I have been on either in Alaska or in New Zealand, has been a different unique experience where I have been fortunate to see wildlife that I had never seen before. I can't wait for the next one.
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