An Auckland family has had the "coolest" experience after a close encounter with a curious orca while fishing for mussels off Rakino Island in the Hauraki Gulf.
The Withers family were snorkeling off their boat around 10am last Saturday when dad Brent noticed what looked like the marine mammal surfacing beyond some nearby rocks.
His kids were in the water at the time and he found himself weighing up whether to force them up onto the boat or remain swimming and potentially have the whales circle them in the water.
"It was a dilemma because we'd all seen the footage of the Waiheke orca on Friday, so as a parent I was a little bit perplexed," Mr Withers told Fairfax Media.
"Do we let them stay in the water and have an experience of a lifetime, or get them out?"
His kids did get back up on the boat, but it didn't stop them from having an extremely close meeting with the playful orca.
The killer whale playfully surfaced just beside their boat, to the hysterics of Mr Withers' kids.
"If he comes up right here, holy shoot! Holy, that's the coolest thing ever happened to me in my whole life!" said Withers' 10-year-old son as the orca passed the boat.
The Withers family were holidaying at Rakino Island when the encounter occurred, and Brent says it was only the second time he's seen an orca in 40 years of visiting the island.
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