New footage shows just how close a group of swimmers came to an orca whale which swam close to shore in the Coromandel Peninsula last weekend.
British tourist Sam Daniels was walking along the beach in Hahei on Saturday when he spotted the whale swimming close to shore.
"I was on the beach having lunch when I spotted the group coming in the distance. Then one of them comes right to the water's edge," Sam told 1 NEWS NOW.
"Amazing how close it came within some people in the water before they realised."
Kelly Lindsay also captured the moment when friends Courtney Foster, Olvia Van Schaik, Christina Whitehead, Shaun Whitehead and Jared Bekhuis turned around and saw the orca.
Onlookers can be heard yelling at swimmers to get out of the water as it swam towards the beach-goers.
"Oh my god, that is so cool," can be heard in the background.
The whale entertained the people on the beach by rolling onto its back.
"That was bloody scary," said one onlooker.
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