By Bob McNeil
A tourist has filmed a close shave between a swimmer and an orca off Auckland's Long Bay Beach.
At first the swimmer seems completely unaware he was only metres from one of the ocean's most dangerous predators, but that soon changed.
The pictures were taken by a visitor from Russia.
When the swimmer realises how close the orca is, he turns quickly back to shore. The orca appears to lose interest.
"They're fairly intelligent," says DOC's Bill Trusewich. "They are the largest species of dolphin, so they're smart like a dolphin, they're curious, they're playful, so it was probably doing nothing more than having a look, doing a bit of interaction, and the guy was very lucky to have that kind of close encounter."
Orcas have no predators, apart from people, but incidents like this have happened before.
"The only important thing to say is it's okay for a marine mammal to come to you, but if you see them in the water if you're on a boat or on the beach, you can't go to them under the Marine Animal Protection Act. You're not allowed to swim with them, so if they swim with you, you are very lucky, you've got a freebie."
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