Acro MCR - Days Out

The Viaduct Bridge opens for us	And we leave Auckland behind	Devonport, but that's not Plymouth behind it!	Nice & warm in Auckland (for a change) but chilly out on the sea.
Rangitoto	We soon find dolphins

		The dolphins just love playing with our bow wave	We find a whale and her calf
The whales spend a lot of time underwater and you don't know where they are going to come up next			This is the calf (I think). The experts on board think it's just a few days old
Mother & calf?	Mum dives down
Mum with Rangitoto in the background	and the nipper	We get close enough to see the whale's skin pattern
The whale takes a big lunge to capture a good mouthful of plankton laden sea	and down she goes again	then back for another mouthful	Simon chills out at the bow
Follow the gannets and you find where the dolphins are feeding		The dolphins herd the fish & the gannets dive in	The locals call this a 'work up'. As well as the dolphins underneath, all sorts of (bigger) fish & sharks come along to benefit from the dolphins fish herding skills.
"Well that bit's fished out, let's get on to the next patch"		Unusual behaviour for a Common Dolphin - swimming backwards on its tail (I nearly got the shot). Its more of a Bottlenose Dolphin thing. It may be to make a big splash and confuse fish.	Heading home
A fur seal passes by	fairly shy		And back into Auckland

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