An Auckland paddleboarder had a "scary" up-close and personal encounter with a pod of curious orca yesterday morning.
Cayla Fickling, a graduate of the University of Auckland’s marine science school, headed out for a paddleboard off the East Coast Bays around 9am.
"It was a beautiful morning. The water was glassy," she told 1News.
She saw splashing from an orca pod further out and made sure to keep a good distance away out of respect for the pod.
Watching the pod from a couple of hundred metres away, Fickling said the sight was "pretty amazing".
"They were just jumping around and doing tricks."
Fickling believes the pod was made up of around eight orca, with a big male and a few juveniles among them.
It was here while watching them, Fickling heard a "splash" from behind her paddleboard.
"Four of five came up right behind my board," she said.
She quickly whipped out her phone so she could film the rare encounter.
"I was freaking out. It was amazing but pretty scary.
"They were really cool, just checking out what the board was and what I was doing. They were really curious."
Orca have made few appearances in the news of late, with numerous attacks on boats in the waters off Spain.
Fickling said that she was “freaking out” while the curious animals had a closer look at her.
"I'll be honest. It was quite a freaky moment - there was a bit of fear."
In a video Fickling sent to 1News, she reassures the orca she's not there to hurt them - while struggling to hold back screams.
But she knew she’d be alright, as she studied orca at university.
She said that New Zealand orca were much more docile than their overseas cousins and that Kiwis are a lot more respectful of them.
"Thank god NZ orca hunt stingrays on the seafloor and not seals on icebergs," she joked.
For someone whose passion is studying marine life, Fickling called the encounter a "once-in-a-lifetime moment".
"It just really highlights the need to protect them. They came up and checked me out and gave them their space.
"If they come up to you, that’s a really, really special moment, once in a lifetime kind of thing."
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