iStockphoto
If you hop on a boat to go fishing, you’re obviously hoping you’ll end up with some aquatic creatures on the vessel at some point. However, three guys in New Zealand recently checked that box in a very unexpected way after a dolphin leapt aboard and forced them to undertake a fairly dramatic rescue mission.
You never know what you’re going to end up encountering when you hit the open ocean, and there have been plenty of instances where unsuspecting boaters, kayakers, and divers have ended up having a very close encounter with a whale that managed to land on them after breaching or inadvertently swallow them before realizing they weren’t a suitable meal.
According to CBS News, a trio of fishermen in New Zealand recently encountered a similar scenario courtesy of another marine mammal thanks to a bottlenose dolphin that threw a hitch in their plans for the day.
Dean Harrison is the owner of the 16-foot boat he and a couple of friends boarded last Friday before heading to Piercy Island (also known as Hole in the Rock), a sacred Maori site located off the northern coast of the country’s North Island.
The three of them were minding their business when a newcomer crashed the party in the form of an 11-foot dolphin weighing more than 900 pounds that jumped out of the water and landed smack in the middle of the boat before it started “thrashing around and breaking everything.”
The animal managed to break all of their rods and cause damage to the bow before settling down, and they quickly realized there was no way they were going to be able to get it out of the boat due to its size.
They subsequently contacted a conversation agency that told them to head to a boat ramp that took them close to an hour to get to, and they hosed down the dolphin with water and eventually covered it with a blanket to keep it as comfortable as possible during the journey.
“This one decided to jump on board” | A dolphin weighing more than 900 pounds landed on board a boat as three men were fishing. https://t.co/92UtcLEkT2 pic.twitter.com/FF167VH2B7
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) March 5, 2025
The conservation officials waiting for them were able to get the dolphin out of the boat and back into the water upon their arrival with the help of a tractor equipped with a harness, but not before some Māori tribe members who’d gathered prayed for the safety of the animal they dubbed Tohu (which means “sign” and is also now the name of Harrison’s boat.
You’ve got to love a story with a happy ending.
Content shared from brobible.com.