Adam Walker: swimmer saved by “hero” dolphins who hunted a deadly shark ready to attack him
Adam was doing a 16 mile challenge in 2014 when a shark followed him. A pod of dolphins saved him from the shark.
Adam Walker
COOK STREET, NEW ZEALAND:
A British swimmer was shocked when he realized a huge great white shark was chasing him.
In 2014, Adam Walker from Nottingham was swimming off New Zealand when he was tracked by a predator. At the time of the incident, Walker was told he could swim in Cook Strait without worrying about sharks.
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Adam was however saved from the shark by a group of dolphins who arrived just in time to protect him. Walker can be seen in the middle of his 16-mile challenge in a YouTube video. A support boat is also there to help him. Suddenly a pod of dolphins jump out of the water and swim in circles around it.
In a Facebook post at the time, Walker said it was an amazing experience and that he felt safe swimming because of the mammals. He wrote: ‘On my sixth swim in Oceans 7, ‘Cook Strait’, I got to swim with dolphins. Open water swimming doesn’t get any better than this! The dream becomes reality!”
But Walker said he didn’t know a shark was near him until he came out of the water. Walker says a friend told him sharks wouldn’t be a threat to his safety before he got in the water, so he wasn’t happy when he found out the truth. Walker told the Marlborough Express that when he got out of the car he ‘attacked’ him (his friend).
Sharks often prey on dolphins, so they need each other to stay safe. So when sharks try to attack, the animals work together to beat the sharks belly or gills.
Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) said: “The main thing dolphins have going for them when it comes to shark attacks is that they stick together in groups and protect themselves by chasing and crushing the shark.”
The group also said, “Dolphins may watch for weaker members of their pods and extended families, such as young dolphins and injured or sick dolphins.”
Walker swam for 8 hours and 36 minutes to complete his swim. It was the sixth in a series of tough swimming challenges he set for himself to raise money and awareness for the WDC.
