Napier family photograph young orca leaping from surf outside their home

A mother and son were privy to a spectacular orca aerial display outside their home on a Napier beach on Friday.

Amy Blakesley and her 11-year-old, Evan, were watching a pod of three orca swim close to the shore when one leapt right out of the water at Bayview, north of Napier.

"We've lived in Bayview for about four years and we've never ever seen that before," Amy said. "It pretty much cleared the water. It did it twice."

The phenomenon, which happened about 10.40am, was a mystery. "We're not sure if it was hunting, we think it was just playing."

Mother and son were both lucky to be there at all.

Evan was enjoying a day at home due to a teacher-only day at school.

"He was my spotter, he was keeping tabs on them so we could follow their antics. I was lucky too as I had a day off work. We were both so lucky to be here, so lucky to see something like this."

Amy Blakeley took this rare shot an orca leaping from the water in Bayview, Napier, this morning. Photo / Amy Blakeley

Orca specialist Dr Ingrid Visser said the orca was definitely a juvenile and breaching the water like it did was quite uncommon behaviour for New Zealand orca.

"Just like humans, orca have different cultures wherever they are around the world. In some cultures of orca breaching like this is very common, but here in New Zealand it's not common at all, so it's amazing they managed to get a photograph of it."

She said biologists still weren't entirely sure why orca leapt out of the water and it had to be taken in context with other behaviours.

"Potentially it could be for fun, it could be they are excited, it could be to tell boats to stay away, it can be a whole range of things, but in the context of this it looks like it could be a young animal playing as its family is hunting along the coastline."

Orca whale specialist Dr Ingrid Visser, of the Orca Research Trust, with stranded orca Rudie at Taiharuru. Photo / Michael Cunningham

She said her research showed that the orca pod would likely be that close to the coastline to hunt for rays.

She recommends that anyone who spots an orca call 0800 SEE ORCA (0800 733 6722) to help the Orca Research Trust monitor the animals and contribute to its database.

"Monitoring them is very important because there are fewer than 200 of them living around the New Zealand coastline."

The Bayview orca sighting came on the same day as news that 31 whales, likely to be pilot whales, died overnight after they became stranded on Farewell Spit in the South Island.