Ocean fishing is not for the faint of heart.
Of course, the average American angler spends time on their local lake, fishing for bass and panfish, maybe pike and walleye, but off shore fishing is an entirely different animal… no pun intended. Big water, big fish, and sometimes… big mammals.
Dean Harrison and a group of anglers off the coast of New Zealand, it was a near death experience when a massive dolphin exploded out of the water and landed in their boat. And then when nobody was seriously injured, it became a life or death situation for the dolphin. Why? Because nobody could move the beast.
“We cruising along, trying to target some kingfish, and all of the sudden, the blink of an eye, there’s this thrashing dolphin in the middle of the boat and there’s gear and people, stuff flying everywhere. It was chaos.”
The dolphin broke every rod they had in the boat, tipping the scale at over 900 pounds:
“We did ask the dolphin specialist that met us with the DOC team, just out of curiosity, how big do you think this thing is? And she said it was about 950, and it’s juvenile male around 2 or 3 years old.”
@nzstuff Three mates reckon they’re lucky to be alive after a dolphin weighing close to half a tonne jumped into their five-metre boat. Skipper Dean Harrison, Milton Brookland and Austyn Holbrow were enjoying a successful day’s fishing near the Hole in the Rock in the Bay of Islands when the three-and-a-half metre animal fell from the sky. “In the blink of an eye, there’s this thrashing dolphin in the middle of the boat and gear and people flying everywhere. It was chaos,” said Dean. #nz #dolphin #tfn #nzstuff #paddygower @Paddy Gower ♬ original sound – NZstuff
The group made a call to figure out what they should do, and needed to run about an hour to get to a crane where they could lift the dolphin out of the boat. Of course, they needed to keep it covered from the sun, and wet, to keep it from dying so they used a hose to keep water on the ocean creature.
Once they go there, the crane hoisted the dolphin out of the boat and back into the water. Members of a local Māori tribe prayed for the dolphin before it was returned to the ocean. They reportedly named the dolphin Tohu, which means “sign” in the Māori language.
Aside from a cut on its tail fin, the dolphin was largely uninjured.
Dolphins are highly intelligent marine mammals known for their playful behavior, complex social structures, and remarkable communication skills. They can be found in ocean water and rivers worldwide. Some species prefer coastal waters while others live in the deep sea, and there is even a freshwater species, in parts of the Amazon and Asia, that live in river delta systems. Dolphins are carnivores, meaning they primarily feed on fish, squid, and crustaceans. Some species, like orcas, hunt seals, sharks, and even other whales.
Regarded as one of the most intelligent animals in the world, dolphins live in pods, which can range from a few individuals to hundreds. They together to hunt and protect each other from predators, and can communicate using echolocation to navigate and hunt, emitting clicks that bounce off objects. A built in sonar system. They also communicate using whistles, body language, and touch.
Harrison added:
“The dolphin got to swim away and we got to walk away and we’ve all got a story to tell. It’s a good ending in a situation that could have been very different.”
Following the incident, Harrison also named his boat Tohu.
