Entangled in the rope of a crayfish pot...the only way to breathe is to drag that entire weight to the surface.
This week a young orca found itself in such a predicament in 25m water, several hundred metres off the Coromandel coast.
Dept.of Conservation urgently rang Cathedral Cove Diving in Hahei, and 19yr.old Rhys Cochrane answered the call-to-arms.
When he and his father reached the orca it appeared quite calm, despite having visible injuries on its head, tail and body, and being very vocal. Rhys dived straight in to release the rope and buoy, saying he wasn't scared, although that changed slightly when the orca's pod swimming nearby come over and try to help...!
"He was pretty tired and sore and didn't really react as he would in the wild, so I jumped in but a few moments after, the pod came around. There were massive ones, five metres, so I started to get a little bit scared because they were big and healthy. I just went back down, grabbed on to its tail, and wrapped my legs around the rope and cut it off." It took the slightly stunned orca a few seconds to realise it was free again: "He kinda sat there for 5-10 seconds then swam away pretty quickly." Great work, guys!
Journos have been calling from as far away as USA.
This week a young orca found itself in such a predicament in 25m water, several hundred metres off the Coromandel coast.
Dept.of Conservation urgently rang Cathedral Cove Diving in Hahei, and 19yr.old Rhys Cochrane answered the call-to-arms.
When he and his father reached the orca it appeared quite calm, despite having visible injuries on its head, tail and body, and being very vocal. Rhys dived straight in to release the rope and buoy, saying he wasn't scared, although that changed slightly when the orca's pod swimming nearby come over and try to help...!
"He was pretty tired and sore and didn't really react as he would in the wild, so I jumped in but a few moments after, the pod came around. There were massive ones, five metres, so I started to get a little bit scared because they were big and healthy. I just went back down, grabbed on to its tail, and wrapped my legs around the rope and cut it off." It took the slightly stunned orca a few seconds to realise it was free again: "He kinda sat there for 5-10 seconds then swam away pretty quickly." Great work, guys!
Journos have been calling from as far away as USA.
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