Pod of killer whales provide perfect backdrop for Auckland waterfront walkers

An Auckland couple out for a Saturday evening walk were provided the perfect backdrop as a pod of five orca whales swum among boats along the Viaduct.

The impromptu marine show in the harbour near the Viaduct Events Centre on Auckland’s waterfront, caught the couple by delighted surprise.

“We were just going for a walk and looked towards the water and saw a pod of around five orcas swimming around.

A pod of orca whales paid Auckland waterfront walkers a visit on Saturday night. Photo / Myint San Aung / Lara Joy Schilhansl

“It was amazing. They were massive and I don’t even know why they came so close to the waterfront,” said witness Myint San Aung of the 5pm display.

Aung says the orca looked as if they were on the hunt for their next meal as they even entered the Viaduct Basin with multiple birds swarming around them.

“There were only around 10 people who noticed them but everyone was amazed. It was just awesome that we didn’t have to go on some big boat to see them so close.

“It was pretty special seeing wildlife in so close to the shoreline. We couldn’t stop talking about it afterwards,” Aung said.

In March, one Auckland man’s Friday fishing trip took a frightening and then exciting turn after a pod of orca came too close for comfort.

Retired police officer David Laumatia was fishing on his jet ski at the Kaiaua mussel farms in the Firth of Thames and had just got a snapper on his line when he noticed the pod, of about five or six orcas.

“When they made a beeline for me I had a mixture of feeling elated and scared,” Laumatia said.

“They could easily have tipped me out of my jet ski if they bumped into me.

“My heart rate went up pretty quickly.”

Laumatia said the pod spent about an hour diving and surfacing around him. He also thought they were perhaps hunting for their next feed, which he hoped was a stingray and not him.