Close coastal encounters with orca and sharks have left two Tauranga men feeling lucky.
On Saturday, Nathan Lewis was jet skiing with his sons aged 7 and 14 when an orca popped out close to them.
Next minute, a pod of about 10 were swimming near them in what he described as "a once in a lifetime experience".
"We just kind of drifted with them ... it was pretty awesome," he said, lucky to be able to catch it on camera.
"It was like I relived my childhood in the Free Willy movie," he said.
"I was quite excited ... I didn't really know what to do other than hang around."
He said while his youngest was a bit nervous, it was a special moment for them all.
"It's like National Geographic kind of stuff ... you pay for that, and then you're still not guaranteed to see them."
He then raced back to shore to tell his wife who then took their daughter out to see them as well.
"They saw them too, and a couple of our neighbours went out on their jetski as well. It was a full-day event."
Lewis said he had seen a few dolphins in the area, but never experienced orca here.
The orca were headed towards Bowentown, he said.
On Sunday, Dave McClelland was lucky to catch a pod of orca - including a calf - swimming near the rocks at the base of Mauao (The Mount).
McClelland is relatively new to the area and had heard about the orca and use to take his drone on walks up Mauao just in case they were there.
For a while - nothing - and he stopped bringing it, but decided to on Sunday.
"A lady came running up to me and said - do you have a drone? The whales are coming up the harbour."
McClelland said it was a mad rush to get the gear sorted but the sight was "pretty cool" with the orcas going close to the rocks including a "wee tiny one".
He saw five in total and the drone trailed them out into the sea where he captured them playing in the water and, for a while, chasing a blue penguin.
He had never seen anything like it before.
Kitesurfer Garrick Armstrong said it was a "blessing" and he felt "really lucky" to see two bronze whaler sharks in their natural habitat two weeks ago near Tay St.
He went kitesurfing twice a week and said it was expected to see them as the water was warmer and smaller fish were coming closer to shore.
"It was pretty cool to finally see one."
Armstrong said he and a friend saw one in the shallows about knee-deep and another one later that day; one was about 1.5m and the other about 2m he said.
"You kind of feel safer on your board, but you don't want to get it wrong and lose your board," he laughed.
"We all gave it space so it could just go and do its thing. It wasn't swimming aggressively, it wasn't trying to swim fast or anything, it was just cruising down the coast."
He had only seen a bronze whaler once before which was last year around the same time, and he had many friends who had seen smaller sharks along the coast.
The same day he saw one of the sharks swim between people and the shoreline between the flags which was spotted by one of the swimmers and everyone got out.
"They just aren't that interested in us," he said.
Armstrong admitted he was afraid of sharks but after watching drone footage of sharks by the Malibu Artist, and seeing that they did not bother humans, it eased his concerns.
"I just feel really grateful that we have oceans that have wildlife in them ... I felt really lucky to have that cool moment."
He said the more he looked at it, the more he realised how smart the sharks were. He believed sharks in general were understudied and were wrongly given a bad name from the movie Jaws.
Department of Conservation Tauranga biodiversity senior ranger Brad Angus said a couple of reports of pods of orca in the area had come through over the holiday period, including three days ago in the Ōmokoroa area.
He said it is not uncommon to see orca along the coastline and they do swim in and around the harbours from time to time.
"Orca are known to be curious animals and often come close to vessels", he said.
It could be a known pod but without photographs or video footage of the pod, they were unable to identify it. He said while they generally prefer cooler waters, orca can travel long distances so there could be a number of known pods.
It is an offence to swim within 100m of an orca or any species of whale under the Marine Mammals Protection Regulations 1992 with a penalty fine of $10,000.
A whale includes baleen whales, sperm whales, beaked whales, killer whales (orca), and pilot whales.
In addition to swimming, it is an offence to harass, disturb, injure, or kill marine mammals. Anyone charged with this faces a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment or a fine up to $250,000.
Aircraft should also maintain a safe distance of at least 150m from orca and should not fly directly overhead.
Sightings of orca can be reported by calling 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468), or by filling out an online form that helps increase knowledge of distribution and movements around New Zealand.
• Species/description
• Location
• Number of individuals
• Estimated sizes
• What they appeared to be doing
• Direction in which they were headed.
• Do not swim within 100m of a killer whale/orca.
• Your vessel should not be within 50m of an orca.
• There should be no more than three vessels within 300 m of any marine mammal, additional vessels may watch from 300m.
• Your vessel should approach orca from behind and to the side.
• Do not circle them, obstruct their path or cut through any group.
• Operate your boat slowly and quietly at 'no wake' speed when within 300m of a killer whale.
• Avoid sudden noises that could startle the animals.
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