Watch this pod of dolphins protect a New Zealand swimmer from a great white shark

GlobalPost

Talk about paying it forward.

A pod of dolphins recently came to the rescue of a long-distance swimmer threatened by a great white shark off the coast of New Zealand.

Adam Walker spotted the shark underneath him while swimming the Cook Strait to raise money for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

Coincidence or not, a pod of 10 dolphins swarmed around him soon after.

The porpoises stayed next to him until the shark swam off.

"I'd like to think they were protecting me and guiding me home!!!" Walker wrote on Facebook after completing the 16-mile journey.

The Brit also swam the Cook Strait as part of the Ocean's Seven, a global challenge involving seven long-stance swims.

So far, he's completed six. His final feat will be in August, when he attempts to cross the North Channel, which separates Northern Ireland from Scotland.

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.