A 50-year-old man from Auckland has done something so stupid that New Zealand’s Environment Ministry is calling him an ‘exemplary of stupidity’. A New Zealander jumped on an orca. With the help of the police, they found him and fined him.
In February this year, pictures of a man jumping from a boat into the water surfaced on Instagram. He came upon a protected species of orca swimming there with a calf. About 150 to 200 orcas swim in New Zealand waters.
The incident went unnoticed until Instagram users sent the footage to the New Zealand Ministry of Environment. They investigated the case and tracked down the man this week with the help of the police.
Check out the images here:
“We were stunned when we saw the video,” a New Zealand ministry spokesman said. “Not only is it the first attempt by a human to jump on top of an orca, but it’s also the first time he’s in the water and trying to swim back to the animal.”
The man is seen trying to touch the beast again. “Did you film it?” The man calls his friends on the boat.
The accused is a 50-year-old from Auckland. This incident also took place on the beach of the city. He was fined 600 dollars (340 euros). “He clearly broke the rules,” the spokesman said.
The ministry also shared the pictures and called the man’s behavior ‘shocking’, ‘stupid’ and ‘an example of stupidity’. The orca appears to have escaped unharmed.
“Introvert. Communicator. Tv fanatic. Typical coffee advocate. Proud music maven. Infuriatingly humble student.”
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