Lifeguards in Mount Maunganui rescued a beached dolphin today in an incident described as “one out of the weird books”.
Eastern region Surf Lifesaving manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell says it had been a scorching and busy day on Bay of Plenty and Coromandel beaches, with surf lifesavers also dealing with medical incidents and “tonnes of shark sightings” – some closing down busy beaches.
He said a pod of dolphins was swimming near Mount Maunganui’s Tay St patrolled area when “one juvenile got too excited and beached up on the sand”.
Surf lifesavers rushed over to turn the roughly 1-metre dolphin around and send it back to sea.
Gibbons-Campbell described the incident as “one for the weird books”. He said an expert had speculated to him the pod might have been chasing the large numbers of bait fish also thought to be a factor in frequent shark sightings close to shore in recent weeks.