Two kayakers have had a once in a life time encounter with an orca while fishing in the Coromandel.
Dave Clark and Patrick Sheppard were fishing north of Tairua on Thursday when the orca swam right up to their kayaks to say 'hello'.
Mr Clark quickly pulled out his Go Pro camera and managed to film the whale swimming underwater before popping back up to breathe right next to him.
He described it as a "wicked experience".
"At one point the baby came out to greet me which was cool. He was just being nosy, no sign of aggression,"
Mr Clark believes they were looking for food in the shallows of the water. He says he didn't feel threatened but was aware of the animal's power.
"The baby just followed me around until I paddled into the shallows out of reach."
"The nerves picked up after a minute when the baby didn't leave me after checking me out and the biggest [orca] started heading straight for me to check out what was going on,"
"Even then there wasn't any sign of aggression. It's just pure size and intelligence of these guys that made me nervous."
He thinks they may have been tempted by the dead fish he had stored at the back of his kayak.
"In the end they were just being nosy and they carried on their way and we got to see a few tail slaps as they were leaving."
Newshub.
