Woman Crushed By Leaping Dolphin

[Kor37 9]

Woman Crushed by Leaping Dolphin

Reuters

WELLINGTON (Dec. 27) - A New Zealand woman is in critical condition in hospital after being crushed by a dolphin that leaped on to her boat, media reported on Wednesday.

 

The 27-year-old woman had been watching from the bow of the small boat cruising among the marine mammals off the North Island's Coromandel Peninsula on Tuesday when the bottlenose dolphin landed on her, the New Zealand Herald said.

 

She suffered serious head injuries and was flown to hospital in Auckland.

 

The dolphin also smashed the boat's windshield and bow rails before jumping back into the ocean, witnesses told the Herald.

 

Coast guard official Steve Taylor said the dolphin probably got over-excited and jumped on to the boat, although he had never heard of such an incident before.

 

Bottlenose dolphins, which can measure up to 8.2 feet in length and weigh as much as 572 pounds, are known for their friendly behavior toward human beings and seldom become aggressive.

 

 

 

Now THERE'S something you don't see every day!...

[Theunicornhunter 2]

A coworker was telling about a woman who was injured on the Suwanee River when a Sturgeon hit her when it jumped in the boat. Sturgeon apparently can get up to 200 pounds and it happens a couple of times a year.

 

**Not that I'm comparing a dolphin to a fish - just that animals that live in the water can be dangerous.

Edited December 28, 2006 by TheUnicornHunter