New Zealand -1500 miles on foot through- The Land Of The Long White Cloud

Killers in the Bay

The six-foot tall black fin cut through the choppy blue-white water, and headed my way.  I bobbed about in the heavy swell in a thick black wet-suit, with a mask and snorkel sitting on top of my head.  We were looking for dusky dolphins, but the huge dark fin heading towards me didn't belong to any dolphin.  As the fin drew closer my eyes were fixed upon it.

'Woohooo!  Killers! Get back on the boat, we'll go chase them.'  On board the small boat, my Maori guide, Bill, gestured for me to climb back up the steel ladder.  I hauled myself on board and with a roar of the engine; we veered off after the black fin.

'Look!'  Bill pointed ahead of us.  Ten large fins now cut the water and spurts of water plumed like geysers into the air.  Ahead of the pack of killer whales was the pod of dusky dolphins that we had been looking for.  A dolphin, with a bright white belly and deep black back, leapt clear of the water, and then twisted in the air as it spotted the killer whales.  The dolphin plunged back into the water.  In an instant the dolphins were off.  The pod split into two, with one group heading out to sea, the other cutting in front of the killer whales and heading towards the rocky shoreline.

'What are they up to?'

'Ah... you see the lot heading out to sea... that's the females and calves.  The crazy ones, cutting in front of the killers, that's the males.  You watch, they'll draw the killers into the shallows and through that narrow gap between the rocks.'  The guide was right.  The killer whales followed the closest group of dolphins.

'See that tall straight fin, that's the bull killer whale.  The smaller fins, with the curve belong to the femal orcas.'

'Will the killers catch the duskies?'

'In open water the killers might be able to round the duskies up.  The killers can top 35 miles per hour and the duskies only about 25, but this is the duskies' home patch.  They keep in shore and know all the narrow gaps and rocks.  The duskies are also more manoeuverable.  The killers won't have a chance of catching them here.  Hee, hee, look at that little fur seal.'  Bill pointed to a juvenile fur seal that had popped its head out of the water.  It had a look of shock on its face as it had surfaced right amongst the ten fast moving fins of the killer whales.  It kept dead still and the orcas sped past it.

The dusky dolphins reached the narrow gap between the outcrops of white limestone rocks.  The last dolphin leapt clear of the water, as if to show off.  The killer whales cruised up to the gap and gave up the chase.

'We heard on the radio that this pack of killers snacked on a bunch of Hector's dolphins north of here this morning.  The Hector's dolphins are only about four feet long.  The Hector's dolphins are endangered too, only about 4000 left now... less after these orcas cruised on by.  These killers are transients, they head down from up north and are on their way to catch the young fur seals that are south of here.  They should have rich pickings there.'

'Do all killer whales eat dolphins and seals?'

'No, there are three distinct types of orcas.  Some are resident to certain areas and eat only fish.  Others spend all their time far offshore and hunt large whales, a pack of those killers can even take on a blue whale.  The last type are these ones, transients, who cruise up and down coastlines in search of marine mammals.  A transient orca was captured, but wouldn't eat the fish that people were trying to feed it.  The groups of orcas are led by a matriarch and are all closely related within the group.  They have distinct calls, with their own dialects, that identify the group.  These transient orcas don't make many calls, though, just a short recognition click, as the mammals they hunt have real acute sense of hearing.  Well, it looks like the orcas are off.'

The black fins headed out of the bay, moving at speed to the south.

'With the killer whales around, the duskies are likely to be a bit spooked.  If we head further north and out to sea we can try to find some larger whales, you fancy that?'