Jodie Lowe took of some fascinating shots of this rarely seen creature some three kilometres out to sea while on a Port Macquarie Cruise Adventures whale watching boat.

The moment was made even more special when the canny photographer spotted a baby false killer whale with its mother.

Local environmentalist, Leigh Mansfield, said the false killer whale has not been extensively studied in the wild; much of the data about it has been derived by examining stranded animals.

Mr Mansfield said the animal is black with a grey throat and neck, it has a slender body with an elongated, tapered head and 44 teeth. 

The dorsal fin is sickle-shaped and its flippers are narrow, short and pointed. 

The average size is around 4.9 m (16 ft). 

Females can reach a maximum known size of 5.1 m (17 ft) in length and 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) in weight, while the largest males can reach 6.1 m (20 ft) and as much as 2,200 kg (4,900 lb).

It lives in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world. As its name implies, the false killer whale shares characteristics, such as appearance, with the more widely known killer whale. 

Like the killer whale, the false killer whale attacks and kills other cetaceans, but the two species do not belong to the same genus. 

The false killer whale is the third-largest member of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae).