Orca make surprise birthday appearance

A pod of orca made a surprise appearance at Tui Prouting’s 11th birthday celebration, delighting the youngster and making his day.

‘‘The weekend was already cool, but then it was really cool because we got to see orca, too,’’ Tui said.

‘‘First, we saw two fins coming towards us. Then we got to see the orca up close while they hunted stingray close to the shore.

‘‘It was my best birthday so far.’’ Tui, along with his family and friends, had tramped into Abel Tasman National Park for a two-night stay at Whariwharangi Hut when the pod of four orca swam into the bay about noon last Sunday, hunting stingray.

The children and adults were at the beach – some swimming – when fins were spotted in the distance.

Those swimming left the water and joined the others on shore as four orca put on a show of their hunting prowess for about 10 minutes.

‘‘My friends and I were swimming when one of the kids shouted out, ‘Orca’ – then I spotted four orca splashing in the water,’’ said Ella Quinlivan, 8.

‘‘Then a stingray floated up to shore, and one of the orca followed it up. The orca was about three metres away from us.’’

Cora Bolger, 7, was in the water and about to swim when ‘‘I saw a big splash and people pointing into the water’’.

‘‘I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the orcas,’’ Cora said. ‘‘It was the best day.’’

Pedro Prouting, 9, was fishing

‘‘We got to see the orca up close while they hunted . . . It was my best birthday so far.’’

Tui Prouting

with friends by the rocks when someone shouted, ‘‘Dolphin’’.

‘‘So we ran down to the beach. I saw a black fin come out of the water. Then the orca jumped out of the water,’’ Pedro said. ‘‘It was so exciting.’’

Freddie Prouting, 6, said seeing orca was a ‘‘once-in-a-lifetime thing, so I’m pretty lucky’’.

Rua Burger, 7, said he felt happy and excited that the orca came so close.

One of the adults, Chops Prouting, said seeing the orca ‘‘and the excitement in the kids made me feel like a child again’’.