Bottlenose Dolphins

Back in January I spent some time with family in the Sounds. It was one of those perfect summer days, calm water, sun, a slight breeze, beautiful colours.. What better day to spend in the boat? So up to the Head of the Tory channel to do a spot of fishing... and photographing..

On the way up we came across a pod of bottlenose dolphins - beautiful creatures. The followed us for ages, surfing in the wake of our boat...

It's the second time I've come across them - the first time they were doing huge flips in the air, but unfortunately I had the wrong lens on so didn't get any photos - and by the time I had changed lenses, they had settled down and were being sensible. This time they were only interested in surfing in our wake...

I can't remember how many were there, but I think I counted at least 15 of them.

The water out here is pretty cold, so I wasn't about to swim with them - wetsuits would have been needed. Besides, I really didn't want to upset the dolphins - they might have thought I was a Beluga Whale!!!

Even though we caught some Blue Cod for dinner, my main memories of the day were the dolphins. (And the champagne we had a lunch!) They, in my opinion, are just magical.

It's a beautiful part of New Zealand I live in. I can't wait to see the dolphins again!