Last night we saw humpback whales out to sea. Unfortunately they didn't come in close like they had in Palmerstone. At least they are here. There is a voluntary whale research team in Niue for a few weeks to monitor and study the whales. Last year they had more than they'd ever seen. This year there are far fewer. It could be El Nina or could be other factors. There is a huge swathe of water extending from Antarctica to Australia, NZ and up to the Cook islands nominated as a whale sanctuary. Whaling boats are not allowed. We'll keep watch and hope we see some while we're here.
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| Brady watching through glass bottom bucket |
In the afternoon our friends on Delos arrived. Convenient because we wanted to do a dive from the mooring buy they were tied onto. The water is super clear though it feels cooler to me. Under the mooring balls the topography is spur and groove, plateaus of ancient coral with narrow chasms between. It's all quite deep, hence taking a mooring and not anchoring plus it's rock. David and I back rolled off our dinghy and went down the mooring line to 15m. There are so many sea snakes here. We saw at least 15 and sometimes in groups of 3. Sea snakes are deadly poisonous. However, they're not aggressive and they can only open there mouths wide enough to bite the skin between your thumb and forefinger, certainly not enough to penetrate a wetsuit. Still we gave them a clear birth.
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