Clip: Surfer Paddles Around with a Pod of Curious Killer Whales

As surfers, we spend a good chunk of our lives bobbing around at the ocean's surface with our arms and legs dangling into the depths.

While we invite ourselves into the home of various sea creatures on a regular basis, it's surprising we don't see them more often.

Sure, there's an abundance of footage showing sharks and surfers unknowingly orbiting around each other. Then there's the occasional whale encounter, where a gentle giant cruises by a lucky surfer. But paddling around with a pod of killer whales like the guy in the clip below? That's a once in a lifetime experience.

The Instagram user known as @weare_offthegrid posted the clip above and captioned it:

"Just a couple of apex predators approaching a surfer ?? ?2024 minni uotinen

"A wild killer whale encounter in Auckland, New Zealand."

In the video, a guy wearing a mask and snorkel paddles a shortboard through a pod of killer whales. The woman behind the camera can't stop (understandably) nervously giggling on the boat.

It looks like there's at least three different orcas swimming around the man.

It's apparent they were pretty interested in him, as they keep surfacing near him over and over again. They even follow him back to the boat, hanging out right below him as he climbs in.

Freaky, but awesome.

Viewers lit up the comments section. Check out a few below:

"Music is spot on if you know how dangerous these guys are"

"I swim with sharks… I wouldn’t even be in the water with Orcas."

"Circling is them checking if he’s food"

Orcas are apex predators at the top of the food chain, but according to Live Science, they're surprisingly gentle in the wild when interacting with humans, though it's sometimes a different story with orcas in captivity.

After seeing a killer whale whip a sea lion with its tail, we're considering this guy lucky.

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