Whale and Dolphin Watching in Whakatane with Diveworks

To view the German language version, click here

Whakatane’s harbor has several whale and dolphin watching tour operators and most recently I have been talking with and reading the website of Steph and Phil van Dusschoten, who own a dayboat called Diveworks.

Their website contains....




 a lot of information in English about the finer points of whale and dolphin watching, so I thought today I would summarise the most interesting points for you.
Off the coast of Whakatane, there is a live volcano called White Island. The volcano makes the water warm, and this attracts some species of fish such as pilchards, anchovies, mackerel and squid for breeding. When the fish hatch, they are herded by hunting fish (mainly tuna) into bait balls. A bait ball is simply a group of small fish swimming together in a tight group.
The dolphins also love to eat these fish and come to Whakatane for this reason. When the dolphins discover a bait ball, it is very exciting to watch. Dolphin watching tours can make fairly accurate predictions about the likelihood of finding dolphins on a tour, and if they are convinced that there won’t be any dolphins, they won’t take the boat out. For this reason, Phil says that they find dolphins on their tours 90% of the time. Phil described to us how the dolphins love to follow the boat because of the comfortable waves and bubbles the motor boat makes. He says that if he rides all day, they will follow all day. During this time, they swim so close to the boat that passengers with their feet hanging over the edge might even touch one of them. If he goes faster, the dolphins love it! He says it’s impossible to leave them behind. But if he stops the boat, there’s a good chance they’ll just keep on swimming. They’re not tame, and are far more interested in feeding and mating. However, if the dolphins have already eaten, and they haven’t got sex on their mind, some people getting into the water and making funny noises through their snorkels might attract some curiosity, and swimmers may find themselves getting pretty close to the dolphins. Phil mentioned that some customers imagine that they might get a dolphin cuddle, but that can certainly never be. The dolphins are quite restless and edgy, on the lookout for attacks by orca or other dolphins.

The season for dolphin watching is in the summer, November to May. There are Common and Bottlenose dolphins. There are fairly strict rules about the conditions under which people are allowed to interact with dolphins. They are only allowed to go in certain areas of the ocean, they can’t feed the dolphins, only 10 people can swim with the dolphins at a time, and then only for half an hour. As a result, a dolphin watching expedition will only take ten swimmers, and maybe a few extra people who are content to watch. If there is a baby dolphin in the group, then people aren’t allowed to swim with them at all. Also, there is an odd rule set by local Maori that you can’t release any bodily emissions when swimming with the dolphins, so that basically means no weeing in the water!

Sometimes, the swimmers get into the water and the dolphins swim away! This is counted as one ‘attempt’, and legally, the tour operator is allowed to make 3 attempts at swimming. So, if you get into the water, be polite!

If you are unlucky and don’t see any dolphins on a 'swim with the dolphins' tour, however, then after about 2 hours of trying, they will change the tour to a visit to Whale Island which includes snorkeling and swimming with the seals (who are evidently much more reliable) . However, the government pamphlet I read online says not to touch them as they can carry diseases and also can be aggressive. I talked about this with Phil and he said that the seal colony in Kaikoura is very large, and old, and has problems with aggressive male seals. However, the seals on Whale Island are a new, smaller colony, and there were already divers and snorkelers in the area when the colony established itself, so the seals are used to people, and the males aren’t particularly aggressive. As for diseases, Phil couldn’t name anything you could actually catch off a seal and thinks the government has probably mentioned this primarily to prevent people trying to take baby seals home as pets. He mentioned that people often get concerned at the sight of apparently motherless, abandoned baby seals, that seem to have weeping eyes, and so they try to rescue the seal, not realizing that they’re actually interfering with a perfectly content wild animal. It’s not unusual for a mother to leave a pup alone onshore for a few weeks, and the eye infection is very common and not a genuine threat to health. If baby seals are taken away from their home, it is very difficult to return them to their colony. Phil told us about a time when he tried return a stolen pup to the island, and how it swam back repeatedly to Whakatane, and finally disappeared.

Whales also come to Whakatane during this time, but they are fewer, and less predictable, so seeing a whale is not guaranteed. The species of whales that come to the area are Orca, Brydes, Pilot, Minke, Finn, and occasionally Blue whale. I asked Phil how many whales he’s seen come into the area so far this summer and he said there have been 3 pods of pilot whales and 1 pod of orca. In Kaikoura, in the South Island, sightings of Sperm Whale CAN be predicted because there is a very deep chasm where the whales actually reside, and come up periodically to breathe.
On the bright side, we don’t have to worry about shark attacks in Whakatane. It seems sharks are regarded more as a fishing opportunity than a threat, and Phil commented on his website that sunburn is a far greater danger.

If you want to go on Phil’s tour, here are the details:
 Ten swimmers per trip
 Book in advance, but no need to pay in advance.
 Dolphin and whale watching tours are between march and april
 In the winter, you can go on fishing trips or swimming with the seals.
 Hot drinks and sweets served on the boat.
 Wetsuits and snorkeling gear provided
 Bring your swimsuit
 If you need help communicating, email Chris.
Present prices: 2 hour eco tour (no swimming) $85 per adult, $65 per child
3-4 hour dolphin watching and swimming tour: $150 per adult swimmer, $125 per adult viewer, $125 per child swimmer, $100 per child viewer.