A peaceful fishing trip took a wild turn for three New Zealand men when a massive dolphin, weighing over 400 kilograms (900 pounds), suddenly appeared to fall from the sky and crash-landed into their small boat.
The men, fishing near the Hole in the Rock, a scenic spot off the far northern coast of New Zealand’s North Island, were not seriously injured when the 3.4-meter (11-foot) bottlenose dolphin jumped into their open-top boat on Friday. Dean Harrison, the boat’s owner, was with two companions when they saw dolphins playing nearby. Suddenly, they noticed a shadow crossing the bright summer sun and heard a loud crash, followed by complete chaos.
Harrison described the event: “This one decided to jump on board and say hello. One minute everything was fine, and then, like lightning, there’s a big dolphin in our boat thrashing around and breaking everything.”
A fishing trip turned chaotic for three New Zealand men when a 400-kilogram (900-pound) dolphin suddenly leaped into their small boat, causing extensive damage. The dolphin, a 3.4-meter (11-foot) bottlenose, flailed around violently, snapping every fishing rod in the boat and damaging the bow as the men held onto the sides of the vessel. One of the men sustained minor injuries when the juvenile male dolphin grazed his arm and shoulder, but fortunately, all three fishermen and the dolphin were unharmed.
With the dolphin trapped in the boat, returning it to the ocean wasn’t an option due to its size. “We looked at the dolphin still alive and breathing, and we thought we’ve got to start looking after him and figure out what to do,” said Dean Harrison, the boat’s owner. “Because he’s stuck in the boat for now, so he’s coming along for the ride.”
The men contacted New Zealand’s conservation agency, who directed them to a boat ramp an hour away, where staff were ready to assist. On the journey, they kept the dolphin wet with a hose and protected it from the sun with a damp towel featuring the All Blacks rugby team logo.
Upon reaching shore, members of a local Māori tribe prayed for the dolphin before it was safely returned to the ocean with the help of a tractor. The dolphin, estimated to be around 2 to 3 years old, was named Tohu, meaning “sign” in the Māori language.
The dolphin’s name now also graces Dean Harrison’s boat. “The dolphin got to swim away, and we got to walk away. We’ve all got a story to tell,” Harrison said. “It’s a good ending to a situation that could have been very different.”