'I stood on a whale'

ANDREW GORRIE/Dominion Post

WHALE OF A TAIL: Simon O'Donnell paddled out to the whale on his surf-ski then stepped on to its back as it swam underwater.

A Paekakariki man is calling himself a whale rider after a brush with a southern beauty but the joyride could cost him $30,000.

Simon O'Donnell said he paddled out to the whale off the Kapiti Coast then stepped on to its back as it swam underwater. Standing on the whale was "just insane".

"I just had to get on her, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity she was beautiful. I thought I was a whale rider."

The southern right whale was between Pukerua Bay and Paekakariki, north of Wellington, and caused traffic delays as motorists slowed to catch a glimpse.

Mr O'Donnell raced home to get his surf-ski about 2pm. Swimming with a pod of orcas last year got him hooked and he wanted to get close to the whale, he said.

"She was pretty cool, she sussed me out and I started leading her and she just stayed beside me. I could touch her on the nose." Then he saw his chance.

"For one second I stood up on her. I didn't ride her like the whale rider, but I was standing on her for a split second. It was a buzz."

But it could turn out to be a costly buzz.

He was ticketed for parking illegally and for having an expired car registration, and police are considering fining him $30,000 for getting too close to the whale.

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, people cannot be closer than 50 metres from whales.

Conservation Department marine ecologist Nadine Bott said the law against touching whales was for the protection of both whales and humans. "They are pretty relaxed and fairly approachable but in saying that they are still a wild animal and can be unpredictable."

Getting too close could potentially drive the whale inshore or away altogether. She doubted Mr O'Donnell's claims and his sanity.

"It's nothing to be proud of, harassing a whale," Ms Bott said. "In my opinion he's not a whale rider, he's a whale harasser."

Kayakers and boaties flocked to see the whale later in the afternoon and DOC officers went out in a boat to ask them to stay away.

Ms Bott said the whale might stay for several days to rest after a long journey from Antarctica.

Sergeant Mike George, of Kapiti, said there were long delays on State Highway 1. "The people rubbernecking caused mayhem, with traffic backed up to Plimmerton."

- © Fairfax NZ News