Since the start of the new year, Joel Crampton told Stuff he had fallen into a routine of heading down to the Wellington beach each evening.
“I swam out to the pontoon, like I’ve been doing most nights.”
Crampton told Stuff he had heard what turned out to be an orca surfacing for air.
He soon realised there were two of them, circling slowly around the pontoon.
“There was this big male with a big fin, and a female with a small fin.”
In a separate video, Crampton can then be seen swimming back towards shore.
The Department of Conservation said orcas are often seen in Wellington Harbour, particularly during spring and summer, as they hunt for stingrays.