Dolphins and whales top off a restful dive

By TONY AND JENNY ENDERBY

A sickle-shaped fin breaks the surface. Several more fins and dark grey bodies move closer. The sea erupts around us as a dozen bottlenose dolphins jump and race to ride the bow of our boat. We hear their exhalations and see the puffs of vapour from their blowholes.

We are caught between watching them from the bow or moving towards the stern where our dive gear is. Thoughts of getting into the water with these amazing creatures run through everyone's minds. Before a single wetsuit is donned they are away, still jumping and playing out into the Bay of Plenty.

More than one pair of eyes scan the horizon, hoping the dolphins will return. The encounter, on our way to Motiti, has already influenced our schedule. We decide our next boat trip will be one where the chance to swim with dolphins is a reality.

Tauranga and Whakatane are good places to make contact with more than dolphins. On a recent trip from Whakatane a curved dorsal fin was accompanied by a massive blast of vapour and the large black back of a whale.

It was a Bryde's (pronounced broodas) whale, the most common in the Bay of Plenty, and New Zealand's largest resident mammal. Growing up to 14m long they are impressive, even without the spectacular tail-up displays of humpback and sperm whales.

A pod of pilot whales, best known for their unfortunate habit of beaching themselves, swam with them.

But the whales and dolphins will have to wait as we return to reality and motor around Motiti Island to our next dive site. The sea floor is a mix of rocky reefs and sand at a depth of 12m. Kelp covers the tops of the rocks and colourful sponges, hydroids and anemones grow on the lower parts.

We descend the mooring line into green coastal water that is clearer than we imagined. Sweep and blue maomao move in around us and on the sand several goatfish dig with their barbels.

The Taioma's bow looms above us with the now redundant hawser holes looking like eyes on either side of her bow. The bridge is a distant shape, towering high over her decks.

Taioma was launched as the Empire Jane in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1944. Its wartime experiences included salvage and rescue duties during the Normandy D-Day landings.

In 1947 it was bought by the Union Steamship Company and renamed Taioma. For more than 30 years it served as one of Wellington's tugboats, including rescue work when the inter-island ferry Wahine sank there in 1967.

The Taioma was moved to the Tauranga Historic Village in 1978 and was the heaviest load transported by road in New Zealand. The village closed in 1998 but the Taioma was saved from the scrap yard when the Taioma Reef Society was formed.

Its final journey began with another road trip back to the Tauranga waterfront and it was sunk on March 19, 2000 at a depth of 28m after being towed to the southern end of Motiti Island.

Taioma's metal plates, now covered with small patches of common and jewel anemones, contrast with the drab brown. On its foredeck, leatherjackets nose around us and spotties hover above. Patches of straggly kelp cling to the deck. Between the winches and machinery, tiger shells nestle, their brown stripes contrasting with the white tentacles of the common anemones.

With visibility around 10m we see more fish above the wheelhouse and move up towards them. Small triplefins adopt a threatening pose with their pectoral fins spread as we enter the wheelhouse.

Big eyes move aside as we test the ship's wheel, which still turns. We move carefully with minimum dive fin movement so the silt isn't disturbed too much. A passing diver peers in through the windows, posing just long enough for a photograph.

More leatherjackets nose around, biting at the growth on the top of the wheelhouse and the rails. The tall funnel, typical of tugboats, dominates the middle of the ship, its red and black paintwork now a uniform brown with more patches of anemones.

At the base of the funnel, pipes curve artistically around the deck. Between them the feelers of a small crayfish poke out and another waves further down. Others hide in holes and under fittings on the rear deck. The ship's code of conduct for divers gives the crayfish protection and maybe with time will help to increase the numbers on the reefs around Motiti Island.

Above two divers descend into the darkness of the funnel. All the internal obstructions were cleared away prior to sinking and the funnel is an easy entry point to the engine room. The stories of a huge resident conger eel are perhaps just imagination - everyone knows about the eel, yet no one has seen it.

Other holes make hull entry and exit easy and virtually all of the Taioma's internal areas have a beam of light from more than one hole. Spotties, leatherjackets, banded wrasses and goatfish move over the decks while above them blue maomao and sweep schools are in no hurry.

A stream of bubbles emerges from the funnel, reminiscent of the steam it would have puffed in her working days above water. Somehow this is a restful dive that suits a visit to a grand old lady of the sea. Rather than ending its days in a scrap yard, the Taioma is becoming a man-made reef.

Each pair of divers returns to the surface and relates their experiences. For some it is their first dive on a sunken ship. The Bay of Plenty sun warms us rapidly as we lunch and relive the dive.

More than one pair of eyes scan the horizon, hoping the dolphins will return. The dolphin encounter on the way to Motiti has already influenced our schedule. Our next boat trip will be one where the chance to swim with dolphins is a reality.

The dolphins have to wait as we motor around Motiti Island to our next dive site. The sea floor is a mix of rocky reefs and sand at a depth of 12m.

Kelp covers the tops of the rocks and colourful sponges, hydroids and anemones grow on the lower parts. Leatherjackets, spotties and banded wrasses cruise through the kelp fronds and goatfish rest among them. A few red moki move into the open, then dart back into the safety of the weed.

In the cracks and crevices in the rocks we search for crayfish feelers. In one deep crack we find two crays. A quick grab, accompanied by a cloud of sand and we have sorted out dinner.

A lone John dory cruises in, spines erect, then hovers nearby. Side on, it is almost invisible, the ploy it uses to get close to small fish before its bottom jaw flashes out. John dory are efficient hunters, capable of taking prey more than half their size.

A school of small kahawai closes around us but just as quickly they are gone. Our thoughts return to the dolphins and we listen in vain for their underwater whistles and clicks. Perhaps the kahawai have another reason for flight and we return to the surface unrewarded.

Tauranga is not often thought of as a dive destination, yet Motiti Island and the Taioma are just two samples of the diversity of sites. Add a dolphin encounter and it's in the "must do" category for marine-related excitement above and below the water.

* Tony and Jenny Enderby dived the Taioma and the reefs of Motiti courtesy of Dive HQ Tauranga.

Case Notes

Diving

Nearest port is Tauranga, three hours south of Auckland by road.

Dive HQ Tauranga

Ph (07) 578 4050

email diveshop@xtra.co.nz


Tauranga Underwater Centre

Ph (07) 571 5286, email colindue@xtra.co.nz


Ecodivers Tauranga

Ph (07) 572 2784 or 0800 572 2784

email info@ecodivers.co.nz


Wreck diving

The Taioma should only be dived by suitably qualified divers, especially any entry into the ship. The depth range is between 20m and 28m. Dive training agencies offer specialty wreck-diving courses for those wishing to enter sunken ships. Good buoyancy is essential and care should be taken not to stir up sediment in and around the ship.

Dolphin swimming

Dolphin swimming trips run all year but are weather dependent. Check with operators for departure times and weather conditions. Wetsuits and snorkelling equipment are available. Most regularly seen species are common and bottlenose dolphins. Also occasionally seen are orca (killer whale), pilot whales, Bryde's whales and humpback whales. The Bay of Plenty is on the path for whales migrating from the Antarctic to the tropics.

Dolphins Down Under Whakatane

Ph 0800 354 7737, email flipper@dolphinswim.co.nz


Dolphin Seafaris, Mt Maunganui

Ph 0800 326 8747, email bookings@nzdolphin.com


The Tauranga Dolphin Co Ph 0800 836 574, email taurangadolphins@clear.net.nz