Two orca hunting an electric ray and then a shark off Northland's coast have delighted a visiting National Geographic crew in the region to capture footage of the impressive marine mammals.
The orca, believed to be brothers, were spotted near Bream Head off Whangārei Harbour and the quick notification enabled the film crew and orca expert Ingrid Visser to launch and catch the duo near Taiharuru Heads on Sunday.
Visser, of the Orca Research Trust, said the underwater camera team had a brief encounter as the orca were hunting an electric ray and the topside crew watched in awe as the orca hunted a shark.
The film crew are only in New Zealand for three weeks and hope to capture footage that shows orca culture and demonstrates how New Zealand orca are different to those found elsewhere in the world.
Visser said weather conditions were rough so water visibility was limited for filming purposes. The film crew left the brothers to continue their hunting trip north when the crew reached Matapouri.