Filming Orca in NZ

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.

Maitai Bay- Diving deep pinnacles

This is the video clip that links with my article in the November "NZ Fishing News" magazine.


I've done heaps of spearfishing around the KariKari Peninsula in the far north of NZ, but I wanted to check out what lies beneath the zone that I'm so familiar with. The zone that I can't visit with only one breath! 
I was pleasantly surprised with what I found! 


Next months article in the NZ Fishing News is about my work filming Killer Whales underwater.

Tawharanui crayfish.mov

This is the video blog associated with my October article in the NZ Fishing News. It was shot just before the Tawharanui Marine Park was just about to change it's status to a marine reserve and become NZ's latest MR (the opening was 28th August). There is not much that changes in reality for this MR as it has been a total no take since 1981- the boundaries have changed slightly and now DOC administers it.... the one change that made me want to film this was that there is no feeding of fish and crayfish in a marine reserve, but in a Marine park there is no such rule.... and also Tawharanui has one of the biggest cray populations around, with about 1000 crays per hectare....there are some feisty crays there

Lucas on drums.mov

Filming mission at the Poor Knight Islands

These pics are from a very successful 3 day filming mission at the Poor Knight Islands....visiting these islands should be on the bucket list of every Kiwi. Not only is the topside scenery stunning, but checking out under the surface is as good as it gets!  

Thanks to Dive Tutukaka for all their help!!

Dan Chapman parked up in RikoRiko cave at the Poor Knights Islands

Just to give you an idea of the size of this cave- there's 3 boats in shot and room for plenty more! This is the director of the shoot, Robin Shingleton

From inside the cave

Night diving, with the lights down on the bottom at 13m shining up on the ceiling, the photo doesn't do it justice...it was truly stunning... as was the diving!

One of Dive Tutukakas fleet at the Knights

Grant and Gabriel after a hard day at work : )

This is Putita being rescued- it screened on Closeup.... about 4 months before I filmed him in some underwater sequences with the BBC

This is when I was filming for the BBC doco - it's inside Whangarei harbour and the Orca is called Putita... this Orca stranded itself about 4 months before this photo as it was chasing stingrays in the shallows of a surf beach. I also filmed it on that occasion as Ingrid (www.orcaresearch.org) and a team of helpers gave it a helping hand getting back out to sea..... it wasn't that long ago that people thought it was a lost cause trying to re-float whales and dolphins, as they thought their organs would be crushed and they wouldn't survive.
Putita and many other Kiwi Orca are testament to the fact that they more than survive.... a number of re-floated Orca have given birth since being stranded also