Post by Elly on Dec 28, 2006 21:30:39 GMT 10
Quite amazing#shock#
Leaping dolphin lands on woman
Ilya Gridneff
December 28, 2006
A WOMAN is fighting for her life after being knocked unconscious by an 80kg dolphin.
The 27-year-old was in a critical but stable condition in an Auckland hospital last night after the bottle-nosed dolphin became "over-excited" and jumped on board her 5.5m runabout on Boxing Day. She was knocked unconscious when the dolphin landed on top of her.
The cetacean smashed a windscreen on the boat before plunging back into the sea near Slipper Island, in the western reaches of the Bay of Plenty, off New Zealand's North Island.
A second woman received cuts and bruises from the shattered glass. A male passenger was unhurt, as was the dolphin.
Kris Lim, a diving instructor and marine animal expert at Oceanworld in Manly, Sydney, has swum with all sorts of creatures, but a dolphin leaping aboard a boat is new to him.
"I've never heard of something like this before, and it's a freak accident for both man and beast," he said.
"Humans are not part of the dolphin's diet, so I can say it was not trying to eat the woman.
"Usually dolphins jump alongside boats, not across and into them, so perhaps this was a particularly disoriented one ... Maybe not a particularly smart one in the pod."
The injured woman, from Pukekohe, 50km south of Auckland, suffered cardiac arrest and was flown by helicopter to Auckland City Hospital, where she was in a critical condition in the intensive care unit last night.
"This is the first time Auckland hospital has seen anyone because of a dolphin-related injury," a spokesman said.
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Leaping dolphin lands on woman
Ilya Gridneff
December 28, 2006
A WOMAN is fighting for her life after being knocked unconscious by an 80kg dolphin.
The 27-year-old was in a critical but stable condition in an Auckland hospital last night after the bottle-nosed dolphin became "over-excited" and jumped on board her 5.5m runabout on Boxing Day. She was knocked unconscious when the dolphin landed on top of her.
The cetacean smashed a windscreen on the boat before plunging back into the sea near Slipper Island, in the western reaches of the Bay of Plenty, off New Zealand's North Island.
A second woman received cuts and bruises from the shattered glass. A male passenger was unhurt, as was the dolphin.
Kris Lim, a diving instructor and marine animal expert at Oceanworld in Manly, Sydney, has swum with all sorts of creatures, but a dolphin leaping aboard a boat is new to him.
"I've never heard of something like this before, and it's a freak accident for both man and beast," he said.
"Humans are not part of the dolphin's diet, so I can say it was not trying to eat the woman.
"Usually dolphins jump alongside boats, not across and into them, so perhaps this was a particularly disoriented one ... Maybe not a particularly smart one in the pod."
The injured woman, from Pukekohe, 50km south of Auckland, suffered cardiac arrest and was flown by helicopter to Auckland City Hospital, where she was in a critical condition in the intensive care unit last night.
"This is the first time Auckland hospital has seen anyone because of a dolphin-related injury," a spokesman said.
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