The creature gently rises off the sea floor as a dive tank is carried out and used to fill both sides of the pontoon.
The group gently guides the mammal into deeper water before deflating one side to let it swim free.
Jobs complete, both groups relax, smile and look to their tutors for approval.
The lifesize pilot whale floating just off the beach and the 2m-long dolphin stuck high and dry on the sand at Sulphur Point on Saturday are not real - although the inflatable sea creatures are a realistic size and weight.
Then it is my turn and it is not as easy as it seems.
In the chaos that ensues, our dolphin begins to roll down the beach and is stopped only when its dorsal fin is grabbed in a desperate panic (a definite no-no), sandy hands damage its delicate skin and a number of team members wander too close to the creature's powerful tail putting them in harm's way.
With the initial adrenaline out of the way, our second attempt is more calm and co-ordinated and I come away confident we could handle the responsibility of caring for and refloating a real dolphin.
I'VE always loved the water and spend every spare summer day scuba diving, wakeboarding, swimming, fishing or surfing so I arrive at the training day only too happy to learn how to help the majestic creatures.
The memory of seeing a pod of dolphins stranded behind a friend's house in Auckland's Lucas Creek when I was a child comes flooding back to me as I arrive at the Tauranga Coastguard and sit down behind a desk alongside about 20 other eager students.
After my intensive training day, hopefully next time I'll be able to help.
Project Jonah general manager Daren Grover kicks off the day with a passionate spiel about the 40-year-old organisation and its grass roots beginning and goes on to talk about the anatomy, behaviour and types of creatures found in New Zealand waters.
Long-time Project Jonah volunteer Yuin Foong then wraps up the four-hour classroom segment by running through the organisations involved in dealing with strandings, what to do if you come across a stranded creature and how to care for it and get it back in the water.
We learn to assess the situation: how many animals are there, what do they look like, what condition are they in, what is the weather like, what is the state of the tide and who else is there? The three Cs needed to keep a marine mammal alive are drilled in to me. Keep them cool, make sure they are comfortable and keep them calm. He also talks us through the theory behind refloating the creatures and the dangers involved in such rescue operations.
Then it is to the beach to put everything into practice.
THOSE people who signed up for the training gave up one day of their time but Project Jonah staff know only a small group of the 2400 volunteers in their data base will ever turn up to any stranding.
The charity is run by Daren, a part-time administrator and a core group of volunteers who are dedicated to the cause.
Yuin, a self-confessed whale geek, is one of those volunteers who happily uses most of his annual leave to spend time training new recruits and helping out at mass strandings.
He recalls hearing of a stranding for the first time as a child and being desperate to find a way there so he could help.
His mother refused to take him then but his passion for dolphins and whales has remained ever since.
Nine years ago, he read about Project Jonah and the marine mammal medic training it offers to volunteers and has been involved heavily ever since.
The organisation attends five or six strandings involving a total of about 300 animals each year in New Zealand and Yuin can be found at most.
"Humans and cetaceans just have this bond and pretty much everyone who reads about a stranding wants to help.
"We empower people to help out. I think that's why Project Jonah resonates with me."
Daren, originally from the UK, got involved in the organisation when a friend asked if he wanted to do the course with him and he was sold.
"It was a crazy unique thing you could only do in New Zealand," he says.
"You've got these huge animals that are so majestic when they are in their environment and they are stuck on the beach and they need help and you can choose to help.
"That's what makes humanity humanity. Most people choose to do something about it.
"Ninety-five per cent of people live close to the coast. When animals like this strand, they choose to do something about it.
"The locals in Golden Bay, they are the experts. We go down to help them."
The biggest mass stranding he has seen was the 139 pilot whales that washed up on the beach at Golden Bay in January.
"It's a real rollercoaster of emotions."
On its own, the small charity could do little but, with the help of committed volunteers throughout the country, thousands of whales and dolphins had been saved, office manager and volunteer co-ordinator Louisa Hawkes said.
"Obviously the idea with training locals up is that they can get there way faster than we can," she says
As a Kiwi child who grew up at the beach I feel a responsibility to look after it and the animals that call the sea their home.
I plan to be there with my fluoro vest, my medic card and my wetsuit ready to help next time a dolphin or whale washes up on a Bay beach.
