Orca have been giving boaties and beach-goers a whale of a time along Northland's coast.
However, the revered marine mammals may also be enticing people to break the law.
In recent weeks there have been several sightings of orca - and of people trying to get too close to them.
Tutukaka-based orca researcher Ingrid Visser said it was fairly common to see orca at this time of year, although this season they were a month later than usual. She
did not know whether this was because of colder weather, higher rainfall changing the inshore conditions or had something to do with orcas' favoured food, stingrays.
Dr Visser spent Saturday photographing a pod of seven orca in the Bay of Islands, among them "her old friend Nobby" who was seen the next day off Marsden Bay.
She is concerned that members of the public are not respecting - or even know about - the distance regulations. The 50m restriction applied in general and when there were calves with the pod it was 100m.
"But you can't even find the marine mammal protection regulations on DoC's website," Dr Visser said.
The regulations bar anyone from purposely coming within 50 metres of whales, dolphins and seals, and the public is not permitted to swim with them, Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger Bryce Lummis said.
Only commercial operators and their customers, under Department of Conservation-issued licences, are allowed to get in the water close enough to interact with the creatures.
But often when people get within 50m it is because the whales or dolphins have come in close to them, Mr Lummis said.
"Dolphins in particular are attracted to boats, it's not always possible for people in boats or kayaks to maintain a 50m distance."
He said he was not aware of members of the public being prosecuted for getting too close to the marine mammals.
Among several recent sightings of the distinctive black and white whales was a pod close to Marsden Bay in Whangarei Harbour on Sunday afternoon.
Lara-Jane Sadler , her husband Jason and her mother, who is holidaying from London, were sitting in their bach when Ms Sadler's mother started shouting "sharks, sharks!"
Her husband immediately grabbed his wife's paddle board for a closer whale-watching experience, "and I grabbed the camera," Ms Sadler said.
The orca they saw was "Nobby". .
Also on Sunday, Northern Advocate photographer John Stone was surfing at Sandy Bay when a large male orca swam beneath his board.
Later, another large orca, a female, came straight at him over the surface.
Several orca were also seen feeding on stingray at Oakura Bay last Thursday.
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