New Zealand man attempts to ‘body-slam’ orca and calf as friends cheer ‘stupid’ stunt

A swimmer leapt from a boat into the water near two orca in New Zealand in an attempt to "body-slam" the adult male and a calf, horrifying footage of the incident described as "shocking and stupid" by the Department of Conservation (DOC) shows.

A video shared to Instagram in February shows a man jumping into the sea off the coast of Devonport, Auckland, in what the DOC said appeared to be a deliberate effort to touch the marine mammals.

An Auckland man, 50, has been fined NZ$600.

He shouted "I touched it" before asking “did you get it?”, in apparent reference to the filming of the incident.

Other boat passengers laughed and cheered.

"It is illegal to swim with whales, or disturb or harass any marine mammal," a DOC spokesperson said.