Posted on 10/09/2008 9:11:36 PM PDT by BGHater
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A married couple riding in a boat in the Intracoastal Waterway got an unexpected guest this morning when a dolphin leaped onto their boat and slid onto their laps.
The woman, Barbara Howard of Mansfield, Ohio, was brought ashore at an Edgewater boat ramp and taken to Bert Fish Medical Center, where she was listed in stable condition this afternoon, Coast Guard officials said. Her husband, Norman Howard, 64, also was hospitalized for some scrapes and bruises but has since been released.
The incident occurred about 10:40 a.m. near the North Causeway in New Smyrna Beach, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Second Class Jason Moats. The county's Regional Communications Center received several 911 calls from witnesses who told the dispatchers about a dolphin jumping out of the water and hitting a woman in a boat.
The Coast Guard was called but patrols were unable to find the boat in the Intracoastal or any of the New Smyrna Beach area boat ramps. Moats said the Coast Guard finally found the couple in Edgewater after getting a call from one of the witnesses.
The Howards were riding in an 18-foot, center console boat with their daughter Laura Hall, 39, and her boyfriend Montie Henderson, 47, both of Edgewater. They were traveling just under the bridge when a dolphin, estimated at 8-10 feet long and about 400 pounds, jumped about 6 feet in the air and landed across the bow of the boat. The momentum of the boat and the dolphin's leap caused it to slide over the bow and land on the laps of Norman and Barbara, who were sitting on the seat in front of the console.
Norman said he saw the dolphin coming out of the corner of his eye, but everything happened too quickly to react. "The next thing I knew, a big old fish was on top of me," he said.
According to Norman he managed to push the dolphin off himself and his wife but the thrashing tail knocked them to the deck of the boat. Barbara caught most of the impact in her chest, while Norman received some scrapes and bruises.
"I got a few good punches. Mike Tyson could not hit that hard," he said.
Henderson was able to roll the dolphin, still lying across the front of the boat, back into the water.
Barbara Howard was conscious when found, Moats said, and was transported to the hospital on a non-emergency basis.
Not a good situation.
Did he it make good ceviche?
I was gonna suggest Sonny's BBQ, but I'm guessing the Viking has already sacked and pillaged that before.
Personally I call porpoise the marlin protection society!
Three times when I was baiting a marlin with live bait i’ve had a porpoise charge the marlin and hit it in the side just before it took the bait.
Apparently their eyesight is extremely good and they either cold see the hook or the leader and knew what it was and kept the marlin from taking the bait.
Interesting critters.
I chalk this up to skippers error
“Did he it make good ceviche?”
Naw, I turned it loose after we boated it.
Of the over 200 that I’ve caught I’ve only boated 2, the first one and one that the mexican boat crew insisted on boating.
I didn’t know until later that there hadn’t been a marlin caught at the cape in over 10 days and that a camera crew from a rod and reel co. had offered a $100 reward for the first marlin brought in.
They make good ceviche
Yea but dolphin and wahoo are much better eating!
Yes they are!
Marlin is good but I have only had the belly used in ceviche.
Excellent and refreshing.
Dunno what became of the rest of it
This wasn’t an accident, the dolphin did this on porpoise.
The dolphin has a porpoiseful life?
Is that a dolphin in your lap, or are you just happy to see me?
Oh jeez. Somebody smack me for laughing at this.
Poor lady. I guess those dolphin are bigger than I thought.
Interesting story, but this piece is really poorly written.
This kind of crap never happened until Obama started lowering the oceans.
Hold muh fish and watch this.
Apparently 36 of the U.S. Navy’s trained cetaceans have gone missing in the Gulf of Mexico, could be wearing special harnesses carrying “toxic dart” guns (can’t be good), and have been trained to shoot at divers in wetsuits simulating terrorists in exercises. Their coastal compound was breached during Hurricane Katrina, sweeping many of the mammals out to sea, and though the Navy isn’t confirming it, sources close to naval intelligence confirm that perhaps now is not the time to take that underwater pleasure diving excursion in the Gulf.
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