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A woman was rescued freezing and exhausted from the sea off Mahia in the northern Hawke's Bay on Monday, worn out by the playful antics of resident dolphin Moko.
The woman, Sophie Brown of Auckland, went into the water at about 4.30pm. She was wearing a wetsuit and knew Moko was waiting for company, but did not bargain on the dolphin wanting to play for so long.
She ended up marooned on a buoy while Moko ran rings around her, swimming around and diving alongside her whenever she tried to move.
"He was like well actually I want to keep going with this game,
but yeah I just didn't have the energy," says Brown.
Bystanders had noticed how long the woman had been at sea when she
started screaming for help.
Sunset Point Bar & Bistro manager Juanita Symes said her uncle Ian Blake came back from the beach and raised the alarm.
The pair borrowed a dinghy from a nearby house and headed out to rescue the woman.
"When we got out there she had wrapped herself around the buoy and was absolutely freezing, she was freezing to death," Symes says.
"She was really really cold. Once we got her out of the water and felt her feet it was like pulling something out of the freezer, that's how cold she was," Blake says.
A local paramedic was waiting on the beach to treat the woman when they returned.
Brown said Moko was very special to the area and she did not want people to get the wrong impression that she was trying to cause her harm.
"I've spent quite a bit of time swimming with Moko and I'm a strong swimmer so I wasn't worried at first," she says.
"We were playing around for a while but then when I wanted to go back in, she just wanted to keep playing.
"I became exhausted and started to panic.
"The reality set in that I was out in the ocean with a wild animal and no people around, so I felt quite vulnerable."
Moko has attracted worldwide attention since she took up residence at Mahia last year, with hundreds of people turning up to swim with him.
But marine welfare organisation Project Jonah said people should take a hands off approach and give the three-year-old bottlenose dolphin him space.
"Although Moko is actively seeking human company, he's a wild animal, not a trained performer," said chief executive Kimberly Muncaster.
Marine expert Dr Mark Orams says it's lucky Brown was not seriously injured and while dolphins like Moko are friendly, they are still wild and unpredictable.
"This is a warning sign that we could end up in a situation if we're not careful where both the dolphin or people are harmed as a result of what really is well-intentioned and playful interaction on both parties" says Dr Oram.
Brown says she will play with Moko again but next time she will take someone with her and go a lot earlier in the day.
