Jumping dolphin hurts woman - 29 December

Now here's a weird story. We normally don't post news of accidents in diving or otherwise ... but this one is too strange to ignore.

A dolphin has jumped into a boat off New Zealand's North Island, critically injuring a woman in what was probably a world first according to experts.

The 27-year-old woman was struck by the leaping dolphin near Slipper Island in the western reaches of the Bay of Plenty yesterday afternoon.

She was admitted to Auckland Hospital's intensive care unit in a serious condition. The dolphin was unharmed.

More about this bizzare accident on SBS World news

Contributed by Tim Hochgrebe added 2006-12-30

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Diving Papua New Guinea - Milne Bay: by Chris Bartlett; It is one of the few places left in the world where a diver can see macro critters, pelagics, and big stuff, as well as fantastic soft and hard corals. The often misused and abused adjective “pristine” is actually appropriate here, due to low fishing pressure in the area in comparison to other areas of the Coral Triangle, no dynamite fishing, and thanks to a system implemented by dive resorts whereby local reef "owners" receiving a small fee for every diver that visits "their" reef. As a result elders make sure that the reefs are not fished.

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