The Doubtful Sound Bottlenose Dolphins were a good reminder about not relying too much on hopes and expectations. Part of my trip to Doubtful Sound had been the hope of seeing Fiorldland Crested Penguins, even though the timing wasn’t ideal, and the expectation of seeing New Zealand Fur Seals. I had also, after the great views we had of White-capped Albatross at Milford Sound last year, hoped to see and again photograph albatross as we reached the Tasman Sea at the mouth of the sound. I hadn’t really thought about the Doubtful Sound Bottlenose Dolphins as they are a small population at the southern limit of the species range. As it happened the perfect weather was ideal for dolphin spotting as we could see them from a good distance away but their inquisitive nature saw them approach the boat a number of times.

The Doubtful Sound Bottlenose Dolphins are a relatively small group estimated at around 56 individuals in 2008 when last surveyed. This was a 30% drop from the numbers when previously surveyed in 1994 so there is some concern about them. Dolphin Protection Zones have been introduced with a code of behaviour for boats to minimise impact on the dolphins by leave all encounters to chance and initiated by the dolphins to eliminate boats pursuing them. We were fortunate that they were interested in us this day as we had a number of very close encounters as well as seeing them at a distance. The are a unique population being among the largest of their species presumably because of the cold water habitat. They also seem socially more tight knit than usual for Bottlenose Dolphins and this possibly a reflection of cooperative behaviour needed to survive on the margin of their more usual habitat.

I saw a number of rafts of Little Penguins but none of the Fiordland Crested Penguins that I had hoped for. We saw a number of New Zealand Fur Seals on the Shelter Islands at the mouth of the fiord where it meets the Tasman Sea. In the distance I saw a couple of Albatross and one flew close enough to be almost sure that it was a Buller’s Albatross (confirmed when I got to look a my photos zoomed in) but not close enough to take any reasonable photos. It was quite frustrating to head back into the fiord just as we reached the albatross zone. The weather was amazing, the landscape incredible but the highlight was the unanticipated and unexpected encounters with the Doubtful Sound Bottlenose Dolphins.

Photos with Nikon D810 and Nikon 24-120mm f4VR apart for the final photo which was with the Nikon D500 and Nikon 300mm f4PF lens with TC14 1.4x teleconverter.