Published|Updated
Three men in New Zealand had an uninvited guest on their fishing trip when a dolphin jumped aboard their small boat.
Dean Harrison and two friends were fishing near the Hole in the Rock, a scenic spot off the far north coast of New Zealand’s North Island, on Feb. 28 and admiring the pod of dolphins playing in the water near their boat.
That’s when they heard a loud BOOM and all hell broke loose.
“This one decided to jump on board and say hello,” Harrison told CBS News. “One minute everything was fine and then just like lightning striking, there’s a big dolphin in our boat thrashing around and breaking everything.”
The flailing, 11-foot dolphin broke “every single fishing rod we had in the boat” and severely damaged the bow as the men clung to the sides of the 16-foot vessel. Because it’s quite difficult to deadlift and toss a trashing, slippery, 900-pound sea creature, getting him back into the water was not an option. So they had to get creative.
“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,” Harrison said. “Because he’s stuck in the boat for now, so he’s coming along for the ride.”
WATCH: Giant Bull Shark Leaps Into 15-Foot Fishing Boat
The fishermen called New Zealand’s conservation agency, which directed them to a boat ramp an hour away. In the meantime, the men sprayed their stowaway with a hose to keep the dolphin wet and used towels to shade it from the sun.
Once they arrived at shore, rescue workers used a tractor and a harness to return the animal to the ocean. Members of a local Māori tribe named the 2-3-year-old animal Tohu, which means “sign.”
That’s also the new name of Dean Harrison’s fishing boat.
“The dolphin got to swim away, and we got to walk away, and we’ve all got a story to tell,” he said. “It’s a good ending in a situation that could have been very different.”
One of the men sustained minor injuries to his arm, but, otherwise, everyone escaped from the incident unscathed.
Love all things fishing and outdoors? Follow OutKick OutDoors on Instagram and TikTok!