Orca seen at Papamoa

A pod of orca snapped swimming along Papamoa Beach. Photo: Stephanie Harris.

A pod of orca have been spotted swimming along Papamoa Beach towards Maketu.

Dennis Richardson saw them when he went down for a swim about 2.40pm on Monday.

'I am kicking myself that I was too lazy to go with him!” says Dennis's wife Heather Ramsay.

'Dennis was already in swimming when he noticed a large fin offshore. He realised it was an orca but stayed standing in the water watching.

'We're used to seeing the bronze whalers so we're not scared of them, we keep a lookout when swimming.”

Once he'd had his swim, a small pod of three or four orca came along closer into shore.

Heather says Dennis came home very excited!

'The irony was that I was at home looking up the best time for whale watching in Hervey Bay!”

Ben Brock saw them earlier.

'[I] saw them down the Mount yesterday morning,” says Ben.

'There were actually two separate pods travelling very closely together. About 12 orca in total.

'They came very close in around the Mount on the beach side, then headed towards Papamoa. Three large males, several females and even some very young ones.”

Dennis also confirmed a similar orca count.

He thought one large orca appeared to be on its own.

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