Ridler is attempting to swim the entire eastern coastline of the North Island in a collaboration with Live Ocean, in a bid to stop the commercial fishing practice of bottom trawling in New Zealand.
Orca close to Pāpāmoa Beach on Saturday.
It would be a world record for the “longest unassisted staged swim ever” and has included some well-known guest swimmers joining him for short stints along the way. The orca were an unexpected but welcome addition.
“I know we saw them from a distance, and it’s a bit harder actually seeing them at sea level because you’ve got a different vantage point, but I can see the big dorsal fins. Hard to miss that,” Ridler said.
The orca could be seen from the Swim 4 The Ocean drone, between Ridler and the shore.
Orca cruising the Pāpāmoa Beach shallows. Ocean swimmer Jono Ridler and his crew can be seen in the top left of the picture. Photo / Live Ocean
“I was hoping I might be able to get a swim with them, but they were off chasing stingrays, I think, further down the shore,” he said.
The orca were filmed swimming through the waves and into the shallows of the shoreline.
“I think I can somewhat tick that off the list, although I have to have a closer experience some other time,” Ridler, who is making his way towards East Cape, said.
With more than 820km left to swim, it may not be his last encounter with the mammals.