WATCH: Up close with orcas in chance Whangamata estuary encounter

A chance encounter with two orcas in knee-deep water has been filmed, showing the marine creatures up close and personal.

The video, shared by Aston Johnstone on the Coastal News Facebook page yesterday, shows two orca gliding through shallow water at Whangamata's Otahu Estuary.

The person filming walks alongside the orcas, just a few metres away and children can be heard on the video saying they have never seen a killer whale before.

A mother can be heard pointing out the whales to her son and another can be heard saying: ''Look how close they are.''

''Oh that's beautiful,'' said another.

''Wow, that is so awesome.''

The sighting comes a few days after a "super pod" of about 25 orcas were spotted socialising and hunting stringrays in the Whangarei Harbour.

The pod last week included a male orca called Ben, who had previously stranded off Mangawhai Heads in 1997 and another named Putita who had stranded on Ruakaka beach in 2010.

Then there was brother and sister, Funky Monkey and Pickle, and A1 - an adult female spotted under the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1988.

A new calf was also among the pod seen in the Whangarei Harbour