Hit and run on orca

By CATHERINE MASTERS

A marine researcher fears for the life of a killer whale after a "hit and run" near the Auckland Harbour Bridge yesterday.

Dr Ingrid Visser said witnesses told her that a speeding yacht hurtled through a group of up to 12 orcas, hitting one so hard the boat capsized and threw its occupants out.

The witnesses, on a Dolphin Explorer trip, told her they had yelled at the yacht to slow but its occupants took no notice.

An angry Dr Visser said the yachties apparently climbed back on the craft and took off without checking on the orca, one of fewer than 200 of the killer whales living permanently around New Zealand.

"Most boaties in New Zealand are very considerate of marine mammals but there are some idiots and we have an incredibly high rate of orca being hit by boats.

"People expect them to get out of the way, but orca don't expect to be hit either."

While it was too early to say whether the whale would make it, she feared for its life.

The Auckland Volunteer Coastguard was last night keeping a watch on the orca near Rangitoto.

"It's a hit and run, isn't it?" Dr Visser said. "Coastguard says there's no blood in the water but that doesn't mean there are no internal injuries."

Dr Visser asks people sighting orcas to call 0800 See Orca (0800 733-6722) to help track the hurt whale.