wapyaly
Contributor
FOUR SAVED BY DOLPHINS
Dolphins have saved a group of swimmers in New Zealand from being attacked by a great white shark.
The four were herded together by the pod of dolphins who then flapped their tails on the water to warn off the shark.
The unusual incident happened when lifeguard Rob Howes took his 15-year-old daughter Niccy and two of her friends swimming near the town of Whangarei.
Mr Howes told his local paper, The Northern Advocate, that the dolphins "started to herd us up, they pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us."
When he tried to break away from the group, two of the bigger mammals moved him back.
He then realised what they were doing: a 10-foot great white was cruising toward them.
"It was only about six feet away from me, the water was crystal clear and it was as clear as the nose on my face," said Mr Howes.
Another lifeguard, Matt Fleet, on patrol in a lifeboat, saw the dolphins circling the swimmers and slapping their tails on the water to keep them in place.
He also had a clear sighting of the shark.
"Some of the people later on the beach tried to tell me it was just another dolphin but I knew what I saw," Mr Fleet told the paper.
Ingrid Visser, who has been studying marine mammals for 14 years, told the newspaper that there had been several reports dolphins protecting swimmers.
She said the dolphins probably sensed the humans were in danger and took action to protect them.
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91055-1161020,00.html
Dolphins have saved a group of swimmers in New Zealand from being attacked by a great white shark.
The four were herded together by the pod of dolphins who then flapped their tails on the water to warn off the shark.
The unusual incident happened when lifeguard Rob Howes took his 15-year-old daughter Niccy and two of her friends swimming near the town of Whangarei.
Mr Howes told his local paper, The Northern Advocate, that the dolphins "started to herd us up, they pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us."
When he tried to break away from the group, two of the bigger mammals moved him back.
He then realised what they were doing: a 10-foot great white was cruising toward them.
"It was only about six feet away from me, the water was crystal clear and it was as clear as the nose on my face," said Mr Howes.
Another lifeguard, Matt Fleet, on patrol in a lifeboat, saw the dolphins circling the swimmers and slapping their tails on the water to keep them in place.
He also had a clear sighting of the shark.
"Some of the people later on the beach tried to tell me it was just another dolphin but I knew what I saw," Mr Fleet told the paper.
Ingrid Visser, who has been studying marine mammals for 14 years, told the newspaper that there had been several reports dolphins protecting swimmers.
She said the dolphins probably sensed the humans were in danger and took action to protect them.
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91055-1161020,00.html
