New video has emerged showing the moment two orca whales swum past a pair of terrified young swimmers off Auckland's Waiheke Island yesterday.
Brett Thom was out taking his dog for a walk when he walked around the corner to Enclosure Bay and heard a woman's frantic scream "Get out of the water!'.
That's when he saw two orca fins gliding through the water.
Often seen swimming through the bay with dolphins, he told 1 NEWS NOW that in his entire time living on Waiheke Island he had never seen them so close to the shore.
He estimated them to be 30 meters away.
He watched on as a group of children were frozen in fear in the water as the whales glided past them.
The youngsters finally swam to the nearest rock and were collected by someone in a kayak.
Mr Thom said it was a bit of a change from the usual friendly sting ray that he sees most days.
Yesterday, Shane Watt sent 1 NEWS video of the encounter , which he filmed from above the bay.
"The kids were obviously very, very frightened," he said.
"We were terrified just watching. It took us a minute to calm down afterwards so I can't imagine what the adrenaline would've been like for them."
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