Went out on the dolphin boat, the first group we found was a large pod - maybe 400 Dusky dolphins. Unfortunately the visibility was almost zero so we didn't get in the water. Rather we just sat there and watched there acrobatics - synchronized jumps, spins, races, every movement possible, and lots that didn't seem should be. After watching them for awhile we headed out again to find someplace with visibility so we can get wet.
About ten minutes further we came upon another group - maybe only a quarter as large, but there was some visibility so we got in the water. I went in the first group and the next hour was spent in the water (through both groups - though I didn't realize it). Each encounter would start as a search in the murky water - though almost invariably it would fail and they'd find me. One to ten of them would come charging out of the gloom and circle like crazy. As long as I could spin in circles, or dive under the water, or even just sing they'd stay around. As soon as I lost my breath and had to rest they'd loose interest and vanish, and the search would begin again. I seemed to be a lot more successful that the others on the trip and had an entourage most of the time I was in the water. I was in over an hour before starting to get cold so I headed back to the boat - only to find most people from both groups had already returned. A few minutes later we were on our way back to Kaikoura.
Back in town I tried to get on an afternoon shark dive - only to find they had all been canceled again. I'll try to go again tomorrow morning - if it doesn't happen then I'll skip it. About then it started to rain - very cold rain, so I spent several hours in the spa waiting for the rain to stop, but it never did.
