An amazing video has emerged from New Zealand of a pod of orcas playing with a boat.

The once-in-a-lifetime footage was captured off the coast of Kawau Bay, Auckland by a lucky local resident earlier this month.

The huge killer whales can be seen swimming and exhibiting playful behaviour right next to the boat.

“We were with my friend Phil on his boat – a 32ft yacht, about 1 Mile from the beach we saw the ‘blow’ from the whales and went over to investigate; and that’s when the fun started,” the filmer later wrote online.

“The orca got closer and closer to us. It seemed like they were encouraged by all our excitement. They loved playing with the dinghy being towed at the back. (I wish I had taken the opportunity to hop in it and get closer to them!) They would hover at the back of the boat, open their mouths and ‘feel’ the self-steering rudder at the back – it was like they were trying to figure out what it was.

“They would roll on their sides and look up at us as we waved and hollered in excitement from the boat. When the large female turned onto her back and started tail slapping, that was incredible! I have since learned that this is not unheard of; but what she was doing and the length of time that she was doing it for is very unusual. I think she was playing to the crowd!

“The group that was following our boat wasn’t hunting … I truly believe they were playing with us and having just as much fun as we were (they just didn’t sound as ridiculous!) The large male and calf that you see in one of the clips stayed away from us most of the time. It is highly possible that the male was teaching the calf how to hunt.”

An amazing video has emerged from New Zealand of a pod of orcas playing with a boat.

The once-in-a-lifetime footage was captured off the coast of Kawau Bay, Auckland by a lucky local resident earlier this month.

The huge killer whales can be seen swimming and exhibiting playful behaviour right next to the boat.

“We were with my friend Phil on his boat – a 32ft yacht, about 1 Mile from the beach we saw the ‘blow’ from the whales and went over to investigate; and that’s when the fun started,” the filmer later wrote online.

“The orca got closer and closer to us. It seemed like they were encouraged by all our excitement. They loved playing with the dinghy being towed at the back. (I wish I had taken the opportunity to hop in it and get closer to them!) They would hover at the back of the boat, open their mouths and ‘feel’ the self-steering rudder at the back – it was like they were trying to figure out what it was.

“They would roll on their sides and look up at us as we waved and hollered in excitement from the boat. When the large female turned onto her back and started tail slapping, that was incredible! I have since learned that this is not unheard of; but what she was doing and the length of time that she was doing it for is very unusual. I think she was playing to the crowd!

“The group that was following our boat wasn’t hunting … I truly believe they were playing with us and having just as much fun as we were (they just didn’t sound as ridiculous!) The large male and calf that you see in one of the clips stayed away from us most of the time. It is highly possible that the male was teaching the calf how to hunt.”

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We live just north of Auckland, New Zealand.
We were with my friend Phil on his boat – a 32ft yacht. Jasper is a German student from Hamburg. Solomon is my son and Adam is his best friend. About 1 Mile from the beach we saw the ‘blow’ from the whales and went over to investigate; and that’s when the fun started. The orca got closer and closer to us. It seemed like they were encouraged by all our excitement. They loved playing with the dingy being towed at the back. (I wish I had taken the opportunity to hop in it and get closer to them!) They would hover at the back of the boat, open their mouths and ‘feel’ the self-steering rudder at the back – it was like they were trying to figure out what it was. They would roll on their sides and look up at us as we waved and hollered in excitement from the boat. When the large female turned onto her back and started tail slapping, that was incredible! I have since learned that this is not unheard of; but what she was doing and the length of time that she was doing it for is very unusual. I think she was playing to the crowd!

There are a number of Orca pods that frequent Kawau Bay. It is the one of the only places in the world where their primary targeted food is Stingrays. The flat, muddy bay offshore at Snells Beach is perfect for hunting. They hunt as a family group; the adults team up and flip the rays over into tonic immobility as the younger orca’s watch and learn. A good friend of mine Steve Hathaway is an underwater photographer and has documented this on a number of occasions. If you are interested in some more footage, he and his daughter are putting together a TV series called “Young Ocean Explorers” to help raise awareness of the ocean and it’s conservation. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4kBlpfySbQ

The group that was following our boat wasn’t hunting though. I truly believe they were playing with us and having just as much fun as we were (they just didn’t sound as ridiculous!) The large male and calf that you see in one of the clips stayed away from us most of the time. It is highly possible that the male was teaching the calf how to hunt.

If you would like any other information on the Orca we were following, you could visit: http://www.orcaresearch.org. Dr Ingrid Visser is a marine biologist and has been an advocate for the protection of Orca in NZ and around the world for the last 20yrs.