It’s becoming more common to call them orcas rather than killer whales, but it makes the title of this story so much more exciting:
But when a one-metre-tall fin popped out of the water and started heading towards him and other surfers, Mr Cunningham decided to head ashore. “I didn’t have anything to sit on and with most of my body under the water, it felt a bit freaky.” The other surfers had stayed at sea unfazed by the visitors.
After catching a wave Mr Cunningham had noticed the orcas had caught a wave behind him.
Wouldn’t that be swell? You’re cruising along on your surfboard just minding your own business when you turn around and see a couple of aquatic killing machines the size of a greyhound buses surfing toward you.
Good thing seawater’s already green…
I’ve got an email into the paper with the photos to see if we can publish them here. I will as soon as we know.
Update: I got permission from the Northern Advocate in the far north of New Zealand to publish the pics. They were taken by one of their reporters, Michael Cunningham. Thank, NA. (Click pics to enlarge.)