He Tangata: Andy Light of Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari

The RAF Museum, Hendon. Photo / Steve Cadman

Elisabeth Easther talks to the Skipper of Auckland Whale & Dolphin Safari.

When I was a kid, one of Mum's relatives had a bach and caravan on Cooks Beach and one of my cousins, Stuart, was right into fishing and diving. So a holiday highlight for me would be when our families came together and, because we had boats, we went all round the Mercury Islands, the Coromandel and the Hauraki Gulf. I did my first scuba dive when I was 7 and sat my PADI qualification when I was just 13.

The second time I went abroad was to America. We went to places like Disneyland and Universal Studios and in San Diego we went to Sea World where I saw Shamu, the whale. Back then we didn't know any better, and it was just very cool because Shamu was a whale. We didn't have the awareness we have now about cetaceans in captivity. On the way over to America, we stopped in Hawaii and, in the hotel lobby I saw a cop and I put my hand on the revolver in his holster. He spun around and pulled it out and pointed it at me and Mum and Dad were saying, "no no no we're from New Zealand". And I was just thinking it was cool. Today, I probably would've been shot, but America was a different place in the 1970s.

Andy Light, of Auckland Whale & Dolphin Safari.

The Bay of Islands is very dear to me, I've worked there a lot, and some of my closest friends live there. But I love Queenstown and Wanaka too, the mountainous regions of the South Island. I ran a bar in Queenstown and worked on the skifields, but I used to get a bit of hassle from the locals for being from Auckland. And I'd say, "I spend so much of my time when I'm working on the tourist boats, telling people how amazing the South Island is and how welcoming the locals are. So don't make me feel like I'm lying by saying that." We really need to get over this North/South Island thing because, unless we're talking about sports, we should be one country.

When I've travelled to Europe, I tended to spend more time in museums than drinking in pubs. My favourite English museum would have to be the RAF Museum in Hendon. I was there one Tuesday, I didn't think it'd be busy, and I saw these old guys walking around wearing straw boaters with "New Zealand" written on them. They were accompanied by New Zealand Air Force officers and it turned out they were the only surviving members of World War II bomber commands. They were there because the Queen was unveiling a memorial in Green Park and I was able to listen to them tell some amazing stories. Two days later I sat up on the New Zealand memorial that overlooks Hyde Park and slowly the crowd grew, mostly Aussies and Kiwis. The Queen passed by and she waved and we watched a Lancaster bomber fly over and drop all these poppies. To be there, and to meet those men, that meant a lot to me.

When I was in my 30s, I moved to Tonga and that was amazing. I'd met a couple who had a whale-watching boat and a permit to take people swimming with humpbacks on Mala Island, but they had no one to run it. Mala Island is part of the Vava'u group; if you jog around the island it'd take about seven minutes, and if you walk slowly it would take maybe 25 minutes. I did one season in Tonga, but I don't really believe in swimming with humpback whales, particularly babies. I just don't think it's good for them. But Tonga is a very poor country and tourism is their main income. So whale-watching is the biggest thing they do; the alternative was to let the Japanese hunt them for short term gain, so I get why they do it.

I love what I do. The people I work with are so passionate. Most of the crew have degrees in biology or marine biology. They're all smart, passionate people, pretty handy on boats and going to work each day is a pleasure. And every day I make people's dreams come true by helping them see dolphins and whales in the wild. And I teach people something at the same time, that might go towards protecting this planet because conservation and research is a big part of what we do. And to let kids drive the boat on the way home, to see the big smiles on their faces, I'd rather do this than anything in the world.
For information: see awads.co.nz