What can happen when orcas decide to play with a bather?

Swimming in the clear waters off the coast of New Zealand on a quiet afternoon seems like a dream. Imagine, then, if you get the company of a wild orca - or three ... That's what happened to Judie Johnson.

At the age of 60, she was quite surprised when three killer whales followed her afternoon dive. The swimmer noticed a huge shape just below her and was very excited when she thought they were dolphins.

The scene was recorded by the drone of an Australian tourist visiting Hahei Beach.

When Judie saw the white color on the animals' bellies, she realized they were killer whales - also known as killer whales. “I also kept thinking that they eat seals and that I was wearing a black wetsuit, ” he said.

Although they are from the same family as the dolphins, killer whales are reputed to be killers for a series of incidents involving captive animals. When arrested for a long time, they end up with episodes of aggressive behavior and in some cases, deaths have occurred.

In nature, however, there are almost no reports of orca attacks on humans. Still, scientists advise never to get too close to marine mammals (after all, you never know what might happen).

For Judie, the fear went away after looking into the eyes of the great orca, who seems to play "follow the master." "They were as interested and curious about me as I was about them, " said the swimmer.

Judie came out of the water for a moment, but eventually came back: “It was very different from everything that happened to me before and I thought, 'No, this is one of those life-changing experiences, '” he said.