Unseen Passage for Class 4 - Passage 13

David, Jeremy and Robert were in their fishing boat about five miles away from the Australian coast. They had been fishing since the previous night. When dark clouds started gathering. David suggested they stop fishing and head for the shore. However, Jeremy and Robert wanted to catch more fish. The group decided to continue fishing for another hour - that proved to be their mistake.

The storm took them almost unawares. They had already started going back to shore when a sudden gust of wind shook the boat. In a twinkling of an eye, the boat was flipped upside down, and the three men found themselves struggling in the water. David managed to reach the boat and clung to it, but Jeremy and David drifted away from the boat and disappeared from sight.

David's left arm had been wounded when the boat turned over, and he wearily scanned his surroundings for any sign of help. Then he saw something that made his hair stand on end - a shark. The smell of his blood must have attracted the shark. He splashed the surface of the water around him and hoped that it would drive the shark away. The shark did swim away, but moments later it came back. It was only a matter of time before he would be attacked.

Then to his horror, he saw what looked like a whole school of sharks approaching him from another direction. Though not a religious man, David said a prayer. But when the school of "sharks" came closer, he saw to his relief that they were not sharks but dolphins.

They came and placed themselves between him and the shark. This went on for about half an hour, until the shark decided to give up and swim away. The dolphins had saved David's life!

Three hours later, David was rescued by the crew of a helicopter patrol, who had already saved Jeremy and Robert. When he recounted his tale to them, David told his friends that he had once read about dolphins rescuing humans from sharks, but had not believed it - until it happened to him.

Adapted from "Saved by Dolphins" by CESSA