Four saved from death's jaws – by a pod of dolphins
By Roger Maynard in Sydney and Tosin Sulaiman
Noverber 24, 2004
::nobreak::FOUR swimmers confronted by a great white shark off the coast of New Zealand were saved by dolphins that came to their rescue.
The three-metre (10ft) shark came within two metres of the swimmers, all of whom are lifeguards at a surf life-saving club north of Auckland.
They were saved only after a pod of dolphins emerged from nowhere and circled them in a tight defensive formation for 40 minutes until the quartet were out of danger.
Only when the dolphins were sure that the shark had disappeared did they open out the tight circle and allow the lifeguards to swim back to shore.
The incident took place three weeks ago, but the swimmers kept quiet about the story until yesterday because they feared that the shark would be hunted.
The group had been swimming 100 metres off a beach at their home town of Whangarei, in North Island, New Zealand. Ron Howes, who went on the training swim with his 15-year-old daughter, Niccy, and two of her friends said that he was lucky to be alive.
He knew something was wrong when the dolphins appeared suddenly and started to herd them up. “They pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us,” he said.
When he tried to break away from the protective group, two of the bigger dolphins herded him back. It was then that he noticed the shark cruising towards them.
“I just recoiled,” he said. “It was only about two metres away from me, the water was crystal-clear and it was as clear as the nose on my face.”
At that point he realised what the dolphins were doing. “They had corralled us up to protect us,” he said. The dolphins appeared to be agitated, repeatedly slapping the water with their tails in what seemed to be an attempt to deter the shark.
Over centuries, dolphins’ affinity to human beings has become part of folklore and marine scientists said that their behaviour was not altogether surprising.
Naomi Rose, of the Humane Society International, who has been studying dolphins for 19 years, said that dolphins were naturally altruistic. “They’ve been doing it throughout history,” she said. “It’s formed the basis for a lot of legends and stories.”
Mark Simmonds, the director of science at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, said that the behaviour of the pod seemed to suggest that the dolphins had made a conscious effort to protect the humans.
Last week Tyna Webb, 77, was killed by what was described as a great white shark “bigger than a helicopter” as she swam off a beach near Cape Town in South Africa.
FRIEND AND FOE
BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN
(Tursiops truncatus)
Skin is smooth and light to slate grey in colour, with a pinkish grey belly. Beak is shaped like a bottle
Found in temperate and tropical waters worldwide
Adult dolphins are on average 8ft to 12ft and weigh around 450kg. Males are bigger than females
Communicate through squeaks, whistles, snapping of jaws and leaping up to 20ft in the air
Acute sense of hearing, but poor sense of smell
Swim in groups of up to 12, known as pods. Can also form herds of up to 100 dolphins
Dolphins are social and known to approach humans
GREAT WHITE SHARK
(Carcharodon carcharias)
Only its belly is white; it is grey or blue grey on top
Found along temperate coastlines around the world including California, Australia, New Zealand
Adults are generally between 10ft and 15ft long. The record is 22ft. Females are bigger than males
Have 3,000 teeth at any one time. Do not chew their food, but rip off chunks and swallow them whole
Can swim through water at speeds of up to 43mph
About half to a third of known shark attacks each year are by great whites. Most are not fatal
Endangered after years of being hunted by humans
Copyright 2004 Times Newspapers Ltd.
