Family’s close encounter with orca
A family from Tasman district have had a close encounter with orca off Ruby Bay.
Local resident Lara BruceMiller and her husband and four sons were getting ready for a fishing trip on Saturday morning, when a friend in Mapua told them there were orca in the bay just after 9am.
The family spotted them not far from where they’d planned to launch their boat.
‘‘I think they were feeding on some fish, because there was a big bait ball that you could see and the seagulls were diving, so I’m guessing the orca created a bait ball,’’ Bruce-Miller said.
‘‘We ran down and launched the boat and nipped around, within about 10 minutes we were literally in front of them.’’
The orca came within about six metres of the family’s two-anda-half metre dinghy.
‘‘We thought we were following them, but they were actually heading towards us when we first got there.
‘‘The bull was coming towards us, so we had to steer out of the way pretty much, otherwise I think he probably would have gone underneath us,’’ Bruce-Miller said.
There were three or four of the animals in the group, she said.
‘‘There was definitely a bull, which was much bigger. We think it was a male and female. There might have been another one, but there was definitely a smaller one as well.
‘‘We were really conscious about keeping away from them and giving them their own space, but when they come towards you, you can’t really do much about it in a smaller boat.’’
The orca stayed in the bay for another half an hour or so, travelling towards Mapua inlet, before moving away, Bruce-Miller said.
New Zealand orca often come into shallower bays or estuaries in search of one of their favourite foods, stingrays. Orca in other parts of the world are not known to feed on stingrays. Orca are the largest members of the dolphin family, with males growing up to 9m in length and with dorsal fins more than a metre high. Females can live up to 90 years.