Killer Whales Frolic Off Banks Peninsula

Tuesday, November 15, 2005
NEW ZEALAND — A rare sighting of killer whales kept boaties awestruck at Port Levy in Banks Peninsula yesterday as the pod of orca put on a playful performance.

"We got within 50 metres of the pod, and they kept coming back to the vessel. We were basically looking at big shadows coming across and disappearing underneath.

We were on a catamaran and they were coming between the two hulls ... they were very calm and relaxed and did a couple of jumps," Black Cat Cruises skipper Russell Thomas said.

After a reported sighting about 5.30am at Port Levy, Thomas embarked on a search for the mammals.

"It was really hit and miss. It's a big ocean out there, and they can cover a big distance."

There were about six orca and the pod appeared to be a family, Thomas said.

"There seemed to be one big one – the male – he was pretty enormous, two females and a couple of young. The smallest would have been about the size of a person." Jim Lilley, of Marine Watch Trust, said orca sightings were seasonal, and orca could usually be spotted in the area about three times a year.

"Usually they come into Lyttelton, but they have a little poke around everywhere."

Researcher Ingrid Visser said the orca would have been hunting stingrays, sharks or dolphins. About 200 orca inhabit New Zealand waters.

Source: www.stuff.co.nz