An Auckland paddle boarder had some special company out on the water on Friday morning when two orca whales circled his board.
Justin Serville captured the spectacular encounter on his GoPro and can be heard greeting the marine mammals out loud in the video, saying "hello beautiful!" and "hello gorgeous!"
"I just believe if I put that energy out to them, that's the energy I get back, and it all just sort of happened," Serville said.
The two small killer whales were spotted near Castor Bay, on Auckland's North Shore.
Serville said they only joined him for about five minutes.
"I suspect they were a mother and a baby, or two juveniles, because they weren't very big," he said.
"I had my GoPro on my head, and you know sometimes it rocks, and I was like, 'oh my gosh that just happened and that was like amazing, I hope I got that on tape!'"
Jo Halliday, the co-founder of Whale-Rescue.org, said New Zealand orca are unique because they come close to shore to hunt for food.
"They are the only orca in the world that feast on eagle rays and stingrays, so that sometimes may be the reason why they are coming in so close and around the shorelines."
Halliday said sometimes orca are curious, but they aren't always feeling interactive.
"Particularly if you are in or on the water, paddle boarding, boating, swimming, whatever it is, you need to really just give them space and allow them to be the ones that decide where they're going and what they're doing and whether they decide to interact," she said.
"I think the biggest thing is giving them the opportunity to make those choices themselves, and if they do choose to come check you out, then how lucky are you?"
