CNET:
Sam Galloway, the University of Auckland student who shot the film, said in the description of his YouTube video that he was on a spear-fishing trip in waters off the coast of Little Barrier Island when he and a friend came across the killer whales.
Some of the younger ones were actually quite friendly.
“The larger ones weren’t very interested in us,” Galloway wrote, “but the calves came in for a close look.”
I’m lucky enough to live on the West coast of Canada where Orca spotting is very common this time of year. They are magnificent animals regardless of whether you see them from a boat or the water like these lucky guys did.
Does anyone use film anymore? Just sayin’.
Diver has close encounter with orca whales. Catches it on video.
My future father-in-law lives on Auke Bay 10 miles north of Juneau, AK. About 300 yards out from his house, he watched a pod of Orcas kill a small group of sea lions. Took about 45 minutes. More like a cat playing with mice than what I would have expected. I keep hoping every time I’m there that I’d see something like that. But Orcas are rare in that bay.
Nikon quite making their film underwater camera, the Nikonos, years ago. It was without peer in terms of underwater functionality. No massive enclosure around a regular camera.
Digital is way better than film anyway, especially for underwater where being able to adjust white balance is critical. If I was a diver, I would be wishing Nikon would revive the Nikonos with a digital version. The lenses are still perfectly fine.