WATCH: Orca Nibbles on Guy's Paddle Board (and Guy Freaks Out a Little)

Leah Ginsberg
·Lead Editor
Updated

Think stand up paddle boarding is boring? Not for Luke Reilly. The Kiwi restaurant owner was on his board about 650 feet offshore when an orca suddenly “popped up” right behind him and he caught the whole thing on his GoPro.

Reilly had gone out because he heard whales were in the area, he told 3News in New Zealand. But when one actually swam over to say hello — and took a quick nibble on his board — Reilly freaked out a little.

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“I was a bit nervous thinking, ‘What’s this guy going to do?’” Reilly recalled. “Then he slowly crept up and grabbed the back of my board and I yelled, ‘What are you doing!’”

Orcas are naturally curious, according to Whale-Rescue.org co-founder Jo Halliday, so the little (big) guy was probably just being nosy. “They will spend a lot of time checking you out,” she told 3News.

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