- Whale watching at Kaikoura is one of the major New Zealand attractions on the South Island.
You can imagine a beautiful, deadly, white whale finally triumphing over its human adversary in Melville’s classic tale of the sea, Moby Dick.
While there is, in fact, a "killer whale," more specifically the largest of the dolphins called the orca (Orcinus orca), which feed on other dolphins and whales and other marine creatures, there is no record of an unprovoked attack by an orca on a human.
Orcas grow no more than 9.5 metres in length.
Largest of the toothed whales
Away from the book’s fiction, you’ll know that Melville’s whale was in fact a sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) which in real life grows to as much as 20 metres in length.
It is the largest of the toothed whales, and this -- as well as, when they make an appearance, the orca, minke, humpback and southern right -- is the biggest attraction at Kaikoura on New Zealand’s South Island.
Kaikoura is on the East Coast, and is a two and a half hours’ drive north from Christchurch.
Maori history and legend
Kaikoura is a small town with a population of probably no more than 3000 but it draws visitors from around the world for its whale watch cruises.
The whale watch company, Whale Watch Kaikoura Ltd, says it is a community trust owned by the Kaikoura Maori people in partnership with their affiliated tribal people, the Ngai Tahu.
The area itself is steeped in Maori history and legend and it is said that the demigod Maui fished the North Island from this spot.
Next page: The Search for the Big Ones
