A Dunedin surfer's "once-in-a-lifetime experience" may land him in hot water after he touched a Southern right whale off Second Beach yesterday.
Dunedin men Sam Todd and Craig Latta paddled out to two 7m-long Southern right whales off the beach on a surfboard and a paddleboard about 11am yesterday, enjoying an "amazing" encounter with the huge mammals.
Todd got particularly close, touching one of the whales for several seconds before it swung its tail, splashing water in his direction.
"I ... left my board in the water and floated on top of one of them and touched one with both hands and that was pretty awesome," he said.
"A once-in-a-lifetime experience, I'd say. Not many people in the world get a chance to have an experience like this one and for it to happen in little old Dunedin, it's pretty special."