Orcas' fishing trip delights boaties

SUPPLIED/Don McFadzien

RIGHT UP THERE: Boaties were close to the action when a pod or orca came in to the Haven to hunt stingrays on Saturday morning.

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Some boaties and wakeboarders got front-row seats when a pod of about 20 orca ventured into Nelson Haven at the weekend to hunt stingrays.

The two hours the pod spent in the harbour from about 10am on Saturday was a unique and "outrageous" experience, said Nelson man Don McFadzien, who guides regular cruise ship tours to Antarctica and is familiar with the large sea mammals.

A pod usually spent only a short time in one area, but on Saturday it spent the time in the harbour teaching its younger members a lesson in hunting stingrays, he said.

Some of the stingrays were thrown through the air as they were hunted and eaten.

The orca were probably the one mobile pod of three known to live in New Zealand waters, and they were exceptionally intelligent animals that would be a danger to humans only if cornered, Mr McFadzien said.

The pod returned on Sunday but did not hunt, possibly out of fears of overfishing the area, as they were likely to return, Mr McFadzien said.

Nelson student pilot Richard Thomson was wakeboarding on the inland side of the Boulder Bank when the pod came in.

He said the orca appeared to be working in groups of two to four, herding the stingrays into shallow water before charging in to get them, often in water as shallow as waist deep.

Nelson sailing instructor John Moore said that after the orca left, some large stingrays were seen in extremely shallow water by Rocks Rd, apparently hiding from a further attack.

- © Fairfax NZ News