The opportunity to film an orca that “dragged belly” along the Mount Maunganui shoreline this month was a “once in a lifetime” opportunity but the rare moment could result in an official warning and fine from the Department of Conservation.
Jahl Marshall is director of Media Masters and specialises in real estate photography and videography, but he was shooting a friend’s hydrofoiling dinghy on a recent Friday when an orca swam through his shot.
Standing by the shoreline operating a drone, he redirected his lens.
“It’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get that footage.
“I’m just feeling grateful to get it and to live in a place as beautiful as we do.”
Although he was unaware of the Department of Conservation rule about keeping 150m from the orca when he collected the footage, Marshall said the closest he got to the mammal was about 30m.
“I did initially fly quite close with all the excitement and then backed off and got on the zoom lens.
“I’d say for 80% of that flight, I’m quite a bit further away than it appears,” he said.
A majestic visitor
Marshall said at one point the orca was swimming towards a group of people.
“As the orca gets close to the people, I think she’s starting to drag belly and that’s why, I think the people didn’t really race off.”
The orca also approached Mount resident Jacob Kelly who was paddle boarding near Moturiki Island.
Kelly said: “I didn’t go out there to interact with them, I actually went out to go for a paddle around Moturiki Island and within 5m of being offshore a mum and a calf just beelined towards me and I freaked out.
“That was the start of about 20 to 25 minutes of interaction with them - the drone stuff was just the last kind of five minutes.
“It scared me so much, but I wouldn’t change it for the world,” Kelly said.
One week on he was still “buzzing” from the experience.
“It was quite insane. I turned south and paddled to Mussel Rock and around Mussel Rock, they just followed me and I could hear them behind me coming up for breaths.
“That was the start of it, what you saw in the footage was the last five minutes of it really.
“This was in chest-high water and it came right up, turned on its side and it’s eyeballing me in the water.
“I could have touched it with my paddle, obviously I didn’t, but it was just magical.
”It wasn’t aggressive, it was just curious.
“You saw it come in with the surf school kids, man, they were buzzing because that was only a couple of metres away from them.”
Kristine Theiss, Department of Conservation operations manager in the Tauranga District, said it was common for orca to be seen in Mt Maunganui and the wider Tauranga harbour area.
“Orca are regularly seen close to shore where they are seeking rays to feed on. It is unlikely these animals will be at great risk of stranding, but mistakes can happen,” she said.
In a statement to the Bay of Plenty Times DoC said it administered specific regulations around drone use regarding marine mammals.
“It is an offence to harass or disturb marine mammals under the Marine Mammals Protection Regulations 1992, and the Marine Mammals Protection Act 1978.
“Flying drones around marine mammals can be highly disturbing, and we can’t always see the signs of their distress,” Theiss said.
“To avoid disturbing or harassing marine mammals, drones must fly no closer than 150m horizontally from a point directly above the animal.”
Marshall said he was told by a DoC officer he may be fined or officially warned, but would not be prosecuted this time.
“Although I wasn’t aware of the 150m rule, I still made sure I was a respectful distance from the orca,” Marshall said.
He used a DJI Mavic III Pro drone with a 7x zoom lens for his work.
DoC advised people to always give orcas space in the water.
Whales could be dangerous, especially when stressed and stuck, so treat them with extreme caution, Theiss said.
“For your safety and theirs. If an orca appears to be stranded or in distress call DoC on 0800 DOCHOT (0800 362 468) or Project Jonah 0800 4 WHALE (0800 4 94253).
Aleyna Martinez is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. She moved to the region in 2024 and has previously reported in Wairarapa and at Pacific Media Network.