It's not that long ago that spotting a whale or dolphin up close in New Zealand waters was a game of chance - usually from your own boat. But in the summer of 1990 Kaikoura-based Ian Bradshaw and Rik Buurman had an idea - why not TAKE people to see dolphins and swim with them? They worked with DoC on getting New Zealand's first dolphin swimming and watching permit - and their first boat, a six-metre catamaran called the Dolphin Mary started taking tourists to see the mammals. A year later Rik's brother Dennis and wife Lynette came aboard - and the company was renamed Dolphin Encounter. The company's been operating now for 36 years - but in the last month, the group made the difficult decision to sell. However Dolphin Encounter will keep operating - it's been sold to another local company, Banks Peninsula eco-tourism pioneers Black Cat Cruises. Lynette and Dennis Buurman join Kathryn to talk about their ground-breaking tourism operation, why the time was right to pass the business on.


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How an odd idea to swim with dolphins set up a 36-year business

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