Posted by on November 23, 2004 at 12:44:59:
WELLINGTON, New Zealand A New Zealand lifeguard says it was a group of dolphins that did the life-saving when he and some other swimmers were threatened by a shark.
Rob Howes says he was swimming with his 15-year-old daughter and two friends when a group of dolphins started circling the swimmers and herding them into a tight group.
He didn't know why they were doing it -- until he spotted a great white shark cruising toward them.
Howes told a newspaper (the Northern Advocate) that the dolphins "pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us." When he tried to drift away from the group, two of the bigger dolphins herded him back.
He says seven dolphins stayed with them for 40 minutes, swimming in circles and slapping the water with their tails.