A group of men fishing off the north coast of New Zealand were in for a surprise when a dolphin weighing more than 600 pounds appeared to fall out of the sky and crashed onto their small boat.
Dean Harrison, the owner of the approximately 16-foot open-top boat, was fishing with two others near Piercy Island, also known as “The Hole in the Rock,” a serene spot off the north coast of New Zealand’s North Island about 150 miles north of Auckland, when the 11-foot bottlenose dolphin fell onto the vessel, the Associated Press reported.
The men told the media outlet they saw a shadow across the sun before hearing the loud boom of the marine mammal crashing onto their boat.
“This one decided to jump on board and say hello,” Harrison told AP. “One minute everything was fine and then just like lightning striking, there’s a big dolphin in our boat thrashing around and breaking everything.”
New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DoC) told USA TODAY Thursday, the juvenile male bottlenose dolphin, which weighed more than 660 pounds, “unexpectedly leapt into a fishing boat off Cape Brett” on Feb. 28.
Watch: Fishermen steer massive dolphin to safety
Video footage from the incident shows the dolphin lying on the boat as one of the men steers the boat while another waters it with a hose. The dolphin can also be seen partially covered in towels to limit its exposure to the sun.
Keeping cool
Harrison told the Associated Press the dolphin severely damaged the boat’s bow and destroyed all fishing rods on board. While one of the men sustained minor injuries to his arm from where the dolphin grazed his back and shoulder, the three and the dolphin escaped largely uninjured.
Given the animal’s size, lifting the dolphin back into the water was an impossible feat for the three men and they alerted the DoC of the incident, which directed them to a boat ramp an hour away, where workers would be present to help the dolphin.
“Dolphin almost killed all three of us,” one of the men can be heard saying in the video.
As they made their way to the ramp, the trio used a hose to keep the dolphin cool and used a damp towel to protect its body from the sun, following the instructions given to them by a DoC ranger, DoC said.
‘Tohu’
When the boat arrived on shore, it was met by DoC staff members and a local Māori tribe, who gave the dolphin a thorough check-up, while the tribe members prayed for the dolphin before it was transported to deeper waters on a pontoon behind a DoC vessel, DoC said, “adding dolphin appeared to be in good condition thanks to the actions from the boaties including keeping it in shade and cool.”
Helpers on ground named the dolphin “Tohu,” which means “sign” in the Māori language. Harrison later also named his boat after the surprise passenger.
“The dolphin got to swim away, and we got to walk away, and we’ve all got a story to tell,” Harrison told AP. “It’s a good ending in a situation that could have been very different.”
Department of Conservation manager Bronwyn Bauer-Hunt, meanwhile, appreciated the fishermen for “doing everything right,” as per The New Zealand Herald.
“No one was seriously injured, including the dolphin, which was a great outcome,” Bauer-Hunt told the media outlet.
DoC said the “dolphin swam off strongly” after it was released “and was monitored for a period before it disappeared into the open sea.”
Recognized for their relatively short breaks and a high, hooked and prominent dorsal fin, bottlenose dolphins are not uncommon in New Zealand, according to DoC. The dolphins or are found both offshore and in many enclosed areas though population densities appear to be higher close to shore, DoC said.
This story was updated to add more information and pictures.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.