Whale Watch Kaikoura is a Maori-owned company in New Zealand that offers visitors up-close encounters with the Giant Sperm Whale – with minimal environmental impacts. Kaikoura’s resident Sperm Whales are the largest living carnivore – equivalent in size to four elephants. They share their unique world with a host of other whale and dolphin species, seals and albatross.
Whale Watch is a multiple award winning tourism company, owned and operated by the indigenous Kati Kuri people of Kaikoura, a Maori sub-tribe of the South Island’s larger Ngai Tahu Tribe.Whale Watch was formed in 1987 at a time when Maori were casualties of Kaikoura’s declining economy. At this time of difficulty, Kati Kuri leaders like Bill Solomon believed the local Sperm Whales held the answer to the unemployment problems of the Maori community. They knew their ancestor Paikea had journeyed to a new life in New Zealand on the back of the whale Tohora. It seemed appropriate for Paikea’s descendants to again ride on the back of the whale to a new life. And so it proved to be.
The Kati Kuri founders of Whale Watch mortgaged their houses to secure a loan to start the business. Due to the phenomenal success of Whale Watch, Kaikoura is now one of New Zealand’s leading tourism experiences offering a diverse range of exciting marine wildlife encounters. The company has stimulated investment in new accommodation, restaurants and an impressive array of cafes and galleries filled with the work of local artists.
In the early days passengers travelled aboard a small inflatable vessel. In time, the inflatable was replaced by a larger boat with an upper viewing deck – the Uruao – until today the Whale Watch fleet numbers four modern catamarans each specially designed for whale watching. These catamarans are equipped with engines that minimize underwater noise and toilets that never pollute the sea. Whale Watch is committed to providing a quality whale watching experience while carefully managing the use of a rare natural resource. The Whale Watch philosophy is that “We are visitors to the world of the whales and respect it as such at all times”. The company cherishes the twin values of hospitality to visitors and reverence for the natural world. It is a philosophy that “embraces people, the land, the sea and all living things as one”.
Paikea and Tohora still form the symbolic centre of Whale Watch. They represent the spiritual bond between the human world and the natural world and speak of the possibilities that reveal themselves when the world of nature is revered rather than exploited.
The latest award won by the Whale Watch Kaikoura is the “Virgin Holidays responsible Tourism Award 2009”. The International Centre for Responsible Tourism and Chair of Judges explained their decision with the following words:
“Rarely do we see a tourism initiative developed from the ground up by a local community to such a successful and grand scale. The founding of the enterprise by four Maori families has demonstrated that the local Maori community can not only grow a considerable tourism business, but, more significantly, use that business to buy back their ancestral land for the benefit of the indigenous people and their cultural identity.”
Whale Watch is located in the town of Kaikoura, a scenic 2.5 hours drive north of Christchurch in New Zealand’s South Island. It is recommended to book the tours beforehand as there exist a high demand of the tours. The actual time on the water is up to 2.5 hours and the price of the tour is 140 NZ dollars for adults, and 60 NZ dollars for children between 3-15 years. Company’s 95% success rate means they can guarantee an 80% refund if the visitors do not see a whale during the tour.
Watch a whale watching video from Whale Watch Kaikoura here:
Text: Emily H?ckert
Image: Whale Watch Kaikoura