For Papamoa surf lifesaver Grant Jellyman, a Sunday afternoon patrol provided a unique experience when he got up close and personal with a pod of orca.

A pod of orca enjoying Papamoa waves on Sunday afternoon.

'We received a phone call from Omanu Surf Club alerting us to a pod of about 30 orca heading our way,” says Grant.

'We had our first sightings as they passed the Papamoa Surf Club, about 200m from the shore.”

Grant says the pod was at Papamoa beach for about half an hour before heading down towards Maketu.

Three lifeguards, including Grant, followed the pod down south to 'make sure they would get out safely”.

While the IRB kept its distance, Grant says the orcas wanted to play in the waves.

'A mum and a pup came right up to the boat. We could have reached out and touched them. They were fine with our presence. They would have warned us if they weren't happy.”

This was Grant's first time encountering orcas and he says it was 'just an awesome experience” for him and his crew.

'The thing that was most impressive was the size. You know they are big, but you don't realise how big until they are right up next to you.

'You are in a very small boat, and you think ‘wow that is impressive if that thing touches the boat'.”

He says an IRB is 3.8m in length and estimated the pups were 4m in length, with the adults anywhere up to 8-9m.