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Have you ever seen a forest creek and waterfall teeming with seal pups? We hadn't either until this day. Following a few hours with Kaikoura Whale Tours, an awesome cruise where we were able to see two sperm whales taking a break from feeding. They are carnivores and use their sonar to stun fish, then munch on all that seafood. They come up for air, hang out, flip a fin for our enjoyment. Luckily for everyone involved this being the start of the winter season there are only a handful of tourists coming to view. As soon as a sea animal is spotted chaos ensues as the passengers all elbowing to get the best photo. I took out a few children trying to block my view. That'll teach them. A large pod of Dusky dolphins came by to entertain us. What a laugh to watch them play in the wake. The cruise was educational and beautiful. But it didn't prepare us for the seals. Driving out of town, we pulled over to take a photo of the seal sign. Around the corner was the Ohau seal colony...pups and mums all over the rocky coast line. So cool. The pups all playing in the little pools. A few other backpackers showed up and asked us if we knew where the waterfall with seals was? The what? We had no idea it existed or where it was. It was around the next corner - with a sign! The pups leave their mums for the day and swim crawl hop up the creek, taking time to play in the fresh water pools. Their goal is the giant pool beneath the waterfall. Wowzie! There must have been around 100 pups. Many of them are very curious and like to stare at the humans, or hop out and come sniff a shoe. Pure joy. A complete unexpected experience.
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