A pair of orcas captured surfing waves close to shore at Hawke's Bay's Waipatiki Beach looked like they were having fun.
But the reality is that the man who filmed them may have had a lucky escape, an expert says.
Napier's Joel Restieaux videoed the pair of orcas as they moved around close to the beach on Saturday, just before 4.30pm.
One video of the 15 minutes of antics, posted to Facebook, shows one of the orcas hitching a ride on a wave as it breaks close to shore.