Here is the BBC trailer that links in with my article in this months New Zealand Fishing News Magazine. It is about Dr Ingrid Visser's research on Orca in NZ and I was very fortunate to be the underwater cameraman for this project. It will be screened in NZ early next year on TV3. It is called "The Woman Who Swims With Killer Whales"
Also here are some pics from Orca filming expeditions
Photo: Cassie De Colling
Filming for BBC, with Bigwave productions, UK: After a very successful mornings filming in the Whangarei harbour, Ingrid does a few pieces to camera as we follow the pod heading south.
Photo: Cassie De Colling
Inside Whangarei harbour- this Orca is called Putita. I filmed him a number of months before this day, on that occasion he was stranded on Ruakaka beach from hunting rays in the surf line and getting caught out going in too shallow - I filmed the rescue and spent a couple of hours up close to this magnificent animal (check the blog- Wednesday 21st September for video footage of that day)
Above - My boat was following Putita and 2 other Orca as they hunted on the shallow banks in the upper harbour, 3 times he stopped hunting and did a big swooping turn backtracking behind my boat and then stopped directly underneath my fins staring up at me.... Yeeha!!! Apart from being an incredible experience, it made me wonder if he actually recognised me from our previous encounter!!
Photo: Cassie De Colling
Following a pod down the Northland coast. In this pic is a Orca calf that Ingrid said was probably only a couple of days old (as you could still see it fetal folds) The interesting thing is that it's fin had been bitten off! She was not too sure if it would survive from this at some a young age, but to our delight we have seen this orca about 6 months later with a healed, but very recognisable fin!
Photo: Ingrid Visser
Here Grant Liebezeit and I are holding up the remains of 2 eagle rays. I picked them up just after I'd filmed them being torn in half by a couple of Orca.... both times it was a interesting moment as I picked up the ray off the sea floor, then held it in one hand and the camera in the other.... to have a large Orca return and look at me from within 2 meters.....hmmm, do you want your lunch back? I was thinking as I held the ray out towards him.
Photo: Cassie De Colling
A orca turns slightly to grab a ray off the bottom directly below me
Photo: Andy Kent : )
This is the first ever photo of an Orca grabbing a ray in the UK!! My good mate Andy Kent sent me this just after he had watched the above BBC doco in the UK.... he managed to capture the action in his bathroom sink... priceless!!
Next months New Zealand Fishing News article is about a place where fish and other animals love to live - inside underwater arches. I will put up a video with some awesome footage shot inside arches from around NZ's Northland coastline.
