Protective Dolphins

In 2004, a New Zealand man and 3 members of his lifeguard group the Whangarei Heads Surf Lifesaving Club.were training about 300' from shore.

The man Rob Howes, 47, his daughter Nicci, 15, Karina Cooper, 15, and Helen Slade, 16, were suddenly surrounded by 7 bottlenosed dolphins. The dolphins herded them together by making tight circles around them. When Mr Howes tried to escape the circle, two of the dolphins came to block his exit.

About that time, Mr Howes spotted the great white shark, about 10' long. The dolphins continued to protect the swimmers for about 40 minutes until the shark swam away.

There have been reports around the world of dolphins protecting people. Dr Rochelle Constantine, from the Auckland University School of Biological Science, said sharks normally aren't a threat to bottlenose dolphins around New Zealand, but dolphins would attack if they felt threatened.

Suddenly, the TV show Flipper sounds more realistic than I'd thought. I'd never heard any dolphin rescue stories. Had you?

Comments: 13

Larry M. Jan 29, 2013, 12:19pm UTC

Yes, I had heard of several.

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connie h. Jan 29, 2013, 12:21pm UTC

wow I wanted to be a marine Bioglist so I have studied up on dolphins and sharks ever sence Jaws came out.

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Ms Lee P. Jan 29, 2013, 12:26pm UTC

Nice story. I know nothing about dolphins.

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Betty S. Jan 29, 2013, 12:42pm UTC

I have heard stories about dolphins helping people.. They are very intelligent .

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Pete S. Jan 29, 2013, 1:17pm UTC

The greatest singer and poet of 6th century BC Greece, Arion, was supposedly on a ship bound for Corinth when the crew decided to rob him and kill him. They first demanded that he sing for them; after he did so he jumped overboard, intending to drown himself. A dolphin then surfaced, and bore him on his back (but assuming this actually happened, more probably pushed him) to shore. There are a number of anecdotal stories about dolphins saving both humans and other dolphins, especially from shark attacks. The dolphin's number one enemy is the shark; a pod of dolphins is usually safe, but a lone dolphin is often a prey to large sharks.

Elizabeth S. Jan 29, 2013, 11:06pm UTC

What a great story. After that, he must have felt like he'd be chosen for greatness.

Pete S. Jan 29, 2013, 11:29pm UTC

He was supposedly the inventor of the dithyramb, defined in The Concise Oxford Dictionary as "Greek choric hymn of wild character; Bacchanalian song; vehement or inflated poem, speech or writing". (It is mentioned in literature 50 years before his time, but he probably introduced it to Corinth; he was evidently the Allen Ginsberg of his age.) There's a lot more, about the death of the dolphin (which ended up as the constellation Delphinus by the grace of Apollo, which leads one to doubt the veracity of much of the legend). But there had probably been at least one rescue of a human by a dolphin in classical Greek times.

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