Close encounter for kayakers

A group of young kayakers in Golden Bay reacted with shock and awe when an orca suddenly appeared.

Nelson painter Steve Halcrow captured the encounter on camera, showing an orca swimming around two of his sons and their friends on kayaks and a paddleboard.

As the large, black dorsal fin cuts through the water in Ligar Bay, one of the young paddlers calls out in alarm but Halcrow tells them to ‘‘chill out’’ .

He knew orca didn’t attack humans in the wild, and that it was chasing a stingray.

Halcrow said the experience was something no money could buy.