Just a few days ago, on February 28th, 2025, three fishermen (Dean Harrison, Milton Brookland, and Austyn Holbrow) were out on a 16 foot boat near “Hole in the Rock” off New Zealand’s North Island.
They were chasing some kingfish when, out of nowhere, a 900 pound bottlenose dolphin launched itself into the air and crash landed right in their boat. Harrison said it was like “lightning striking” as one second it’s calm, the next there’s a thrashing 11 foot sea mammal snapping every fishing rod and denting the bow.
The trio clung to the sides as the dolphin went berserk, tossing gear everywhere. One guy got a grazed arm, but miraculously, no one (the dolphin included) was seriously hurt.
They couldn’t just toss it back due to its size, so they hosed it down, draped it with a damp All Blacks towel and motored an hour to a boat ramp where conservation folks were waiting.
The dolphin, later named Tohu (Maori for “sign”), got checked out and released back into the water. Boat took a beating, but it didn’t sink. Harrison called it a close call and it could’ve been a lot worse if that 900 pound projectile had landed differently.
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