Rescuer admits he feared the worst in orca encounter
A kayaker who rescued two young children after their close brush with a pair of orca says part of him feared for the worst.
Kit Doudney rowed out to retrieve a boy and a girl after two orca bulls glided past them off Auckland’s Waiheke Island on Thursday afternoon.
The children had been snorkelling in Enclosure Bay and hadn’t heard calls from the shore to get out of the water.
Doudney, along with relative Peter Wichman, said they were screaming in terror and there was a ‘‘fair bit of crying going on’’.
He said the girl was between seven and nine years old and there was a boy of around 11 or 12.
‘‘There were around 20 people on the beach at around 2.45pm yesterday who saw the two fins approaching from the eastern entrance to the bay,’’ he said.
‘‘Someone yelled ‘shark, shark, shark’ and around 15 people got out of the sea.
‘‘Everyone panicked.
‘‘It was a ‘Jaws’-like situation.’’ Doudney and Wichman decided to jump in their kayaks and retrieve the kids.
He said they were no further than halfway there when the orca glided past the children, who were screaming in terror.
‘‘Ninety per cent of me knew there wouldn’t be a problem, but another 10 per cent said I’d be going to pick up some bloodied mess in the water.’’
But the rescue went without incident. Wichman picked up the young girl, who was ‘‘shaking like a leaf’’ while Doudney made his way to the boy who had scrambled onto some rocks.
Doudney put the snorkelling gear in his kayak and persuaded the boy to hang onto the back for a tow into shore.
The children were met by a young female carer.
They later left the island with their family, according to a local source.
Orca are a common sight around the island and there were numerous sightings on January 25 at Oneroa Bay and Owhanake Bay as well as at Enclosure Bay.
Locals have been commenting on social media about sightings, saying the warm water and surfeit of stingrays has attracted the orca into shallows.
One of the most popular spots for orca to catch stingray is at Matiatia, in the area around the ferry terminal.