This Swimmer Noticed A Shark Was Following Him; The Dolphins Noticed, Too

The Huffington Post  | by  Emily Thomas

Posted: 04/26/2014 11:12 am EDT Updated: 04/29/2014 12:59 pm EDT

A group of dolphins apparently came to the aid of a British long-distance swimmer just in the nick of time.

Adam Walker was on a 16-mile swim in the choppy waters of New Zealand's Cook Strait on April 22 when he spotted a great white shark beneath him, Yahoo! News reports. A pod of 10 dolphins quickly surrounded him and stayed by his side until the shark swam off.

Walker posted images of his guardian dolphins on Facebook a day after the rigorous swim. "I'd like to think they were protecting me and guiding me home!!!" he wrote of his brief time with the dolphins.

Walker, who was swimming to raise proceeds for the nonprofit Whale and Dolphin Conservation, embarked on the Cook Strait swim as part of the Ocean's Seven, a global challenge to complete seven long-distance swims. He crossed the Cook Strait in 8 hours and 36 minutes.

Walker is already most of the way through the Ocean's Seven challenge, having previously completed swims across the English Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, Molokai Channel, Catalina Channel and Tsugaru Channel. His final swim will be in August, when he will attempt to swim the North Channel, which separates Northern Ireland from Scotland.