Featured Image Credit:Nathan Pettigrew
Nathan Pettigrew is one lucky marine enthusiast! On November 30th he was kayaking around the Rabbit Islands when he saw an unmistakable dorsal fin surface right in front of him.
Indeed! Mr. Pettifrew had encountered a pod of 7 orca whales. Check out his exciting experience below:
Just wait until about 30 seconds into the video… a very curious calf swims right up to the kayak and says “Hello!”
Being that Pettigrew is an avid outdoorsmen, he spends lot of time on the water and is able to use his footage to educate children at local primary schools. He is actually one of the few people in New Zealand that is permitted by the Department of Conservation to get up close and personal with killer whales.
After this particular adventure, he commented, “They are just amazing animals and I can appreciate it probably didn’t look good. I can see how people would be concerned. Obviously a lot of people don’t realize I have a permit so a few people phoned DoC, which is actually really cool because it shows that they care.” Way to go citizen scientists!
According to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which was implemented in 1992, it is illegal for an individual to swim within 100 meters and vessels within 50 meters. If violated, the guilty party could face fines of up to $10,000. Basically, Pettigrew permit exempts him from potential fines.
Here are the rules from the Department of Conservation:
-Do not swim within 100m of a killer whale/orca.
– Your vessel should not be within 50m of a killer whale.
– There should be no more than three vessels within 300m of any marine mammal, additional vessels may watch from 300m.
– Your vessel should approach orca from behind and to the side.
– Do not circle them, obstruct their path or cut through any group.
– Operate your boat slowly and quietly at ”no wake” speed when within 300m of a killer whale.
– Avoid sudden noises that could startle the animals.
Check out the original article from the Bay of Plenty Times.