Dolphins proved to a swimmer’s best friend when they saved a group of swimmers from attack by a great white shark.

The amazing rescue took place at a beach near Whangarei on New Zealand’s North Island when the swimmers were threatened by one of the ocean’s most deadly predators.

Lifesavers Rob Howes, his 15-year-old daughter Niccy, Karina Cooper and Helen Slade were doing lifeguard training 100 meters (300 feet) off Ocean Beach when their frightening ordeal began.

Menaced by a 3 meter (9 feet) great white, a pod of dolphins raced immediately to their rescue. The seven animals surrounded the swimmers for 40 minutes until they could swim to safety.

Initially Howes and his group thought they were being attacked by the dolphins. He described how the dolphins began to herd them up, pushing the four of them together by doing tight circles around them.

He attempted to drift away from the group, but two of the bigger dolphins herded him back. Just then he spotted a 3 meter great white shark swimming towards the group.

The shark, he said, was only about 2 meters (6 feet) from him and he recoiled at the sight of the mighty predator. It was then he realized the dolphins, far from attacking them, were trying to keep them from harm.

For a full 40 anxious minutes their dolphin friends formed a protective barrier around the swimmers, as the shark lurked menacingly beneath the surface. The dolphins slapped the water with their tails to scare off the great white.

Howes and his group said they were in no doubt that the dolphins were trying to protect them.

Dolphin experts say that the creatures are known to attack sharks to protect themselves and their young, so they could have sensed the dangers the hapless swimmers were in and moved in to protect them.

It wouldn't have been the first time dolphins have been hailed for saving humans from a shark. In Greek mythology, the writer Herodotus tells how Arion a musician was saved by the sea creatures after sailors had thrown him from their ship. The dolphins carried him back to land on their backs, according to the legend.

- November 23, 2004.