Three men were on a fishing trip in New Zealand’s North Island when a 400 kg dolphin landed in their 16-foot boat. On February 28, Dean Harrison and his friends, Milton Brookland and Austyn Holbrow, were fishing near a spot known as “Hole in the Rock”.

Describing the incident on Facebook, Mr Harrison said, “In the blink of an eye, there was a massive crash and boom, then a live 400 kg dolphin filling the inside of our small open-top boat going absolutely ballistic.”

He said, “It was like a tornado with this huge thrashing creature throwing fishing gear and rods and reels everywhere while people were scrambling to move out of the way.”

Mr Harrison said, “The boat, a Stabi 1550 Frontier, sustained a bit of damage but thankfully tanked the hit and kept us afloat and dry. If we were in other boats of this size, we may have been tipped over or sunk.”

After the bottlenose dolphin crash-landed in their boat, one of the three men sustained minor injuries to his arm. Otherwise, all three fishermen and the dolphin were uninjured, CNN reported.

To rescue Tohu, a name given by helpers, the men informed New Zealand’s conservation agency, who asked them to transport the dolphin to the Waitangi boat ramp, where a team from the Department of Conservation (DOC) and a dolphin specialist were prepared to assist.

The dolphin was still alive and breathing, so on their way, they kept the creature wet using the deck wash and protected it from the sun with a damp towel.

Mr Harrison said that with a quick karakia and the assistance of a tractor, the animal was safely lifted out and put back in the water in its cradle for further assessment.

A similar incident happened a few years ago when a giant white shark jumped out of the water and landed into the boat of a 73-year-old Australian fisherman in northern New South Wales state.