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A humpback whale has been captured frolicking in the waters off the coast of Hawke’s Bay by a lucky fisherman.

Regular boatie Dave Hulks was on a friend’s 5m boat looking for fish to catch on Monday morning when he saw something sticking out of the water about 15km off Waipatiki Beach, north of Napier.

Hulks and his friend “trundled over” to discover a whale enjoying itself at the surface rolling around and slapping the water with its fins, the first time Hulks had seen one in Hawke Bay.

Soon the whale was diving down and then leaping into the air, worrying Hulks’ fishing buddy that it might land on the boat.

“We kept guessing where the bugger was,” Hulks laughed.

A spokesman from DoC said the long pectoral flippers showed the whale was a humpback, a species well known for its impressive breaching.

Humpbacks are frequent visitors to the coastal waters of New Zealand when they undertake seasonal long-distance migrations (approximately 10,000km/yr) between summer feeding grounds in high latitudes (Antarctica) and winter calving and breeding grounds in tropical or near tropical waters.

They travel mainly along the east coast of the South Island and through Cook Strait during winter, and return along the west coast during spring.

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.