Frantic Dolphins Attract Sailor's Attention, Guide Boat To Terrified Woman Struggling In The Ocean
Nov 12, 2021 by apost team
It is always a joy to see a pod of dolphins while at sea. The beautiful aquatic creatures have long been friends with sailors. However, in September 2021, a pod of dolphins went beyond being friendly and actually helped save the life of a woman who had been swept away by rip currents.
Koz Khosravani was sailing on his new boat when he saw the dolphins. They led him the distance of a city block to a naked woman who had been skinny dipping the night before off the coast of Marina del Rey, California. She barely had enough energy to wave her arm, but that was all Khosravani needed to see where she was. He pulled the sailboat next to the woman, using the training he had just learned in a boat safety class, and grabbed her out of the water.
The woman, whose identity hasn’t been revealed, had been in the water for 12 hours and was suffering from hypothermia. She had been pulled away from shore by rip currents and had nearly expended all of her energy by the time she was rescued. She spent three days in the hospital but has made a full recovery.
After Khosravani pulled the woman into his boat, he noticed her skin was ashen color and that she could barely speak. He radioed an emergency alert, which was picked up by L.A. County Fire Department ocean lifeguard Captain Matt Rhodes. He later said that anyone who has spent 12 hours in the water without thermal gear is very lucky to be alive. Read on to learn more about this incredible water rescue.
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The Los Angeles Times spoke with Khosravani a month after the incident. He shared, “I’m questioning how everything aligned, I came from Iran 43 years ago. I don’t practice religion. But so many things went right for this lady. At the end of the day, I don’t believe it was divine intervention.” He paused for a moment before adding, “I’m a scientist, but thank God for all that did go right.”
The sailor credits the dolphins for leading him to the woman. "They really directed me to her. I would have never, ever seen her if it wasn’t for the dolphins,” Khosravani said to Inside Edition.
This isn’t the only time a group of dolphins has worked together to save a human. According to The Guardian, a pod of dolphins in New Zealand corralled a group of swimmers in 2004 to protect them from a great white shark. It seems that it is in the dolphins’ nature to help. "They could have sensed the danger to the swimmers, and taken action to protect them," said Ingrid Visser, of the environmental group Orca Research.
The dolphins that Khosravani met led him right to the woman who was drowning. “Once they passed was when I saw a hand in the water,” he explained. “It was about one city block away. At that point, I wasn’t sure I saw what I saw. Then I was sure it was a human as we got closer.”
Khosravani said the dolphins he encountered arrived just in time. “She had just enough energy to just (wave her arm) one more time,” he shared.
It was thanks to the dolphins and Khosravani that the woman lived.
“Without you there,” Rhodes said to Khosravani, “I’m almost certain she would have died.”
apost.com
What do you think of this incredible story? Have you ever encountered a dolphin in the wild? Let us know, and feel free to pass this on to your friends and family.