April 02, 2019
Dolphins join seabed protest celebration
A Whanganui doctor says his epic swim in the South Taranaki Bight was a way to draw attention to an amazing marine environment and the threats to it.
At the weekend Athol Steward and his son Lloyd swam 23 kilometres from Pātea River to Whanganui in around eight hours to raise money for Kiwis Against Seabed Mining.
Despite claims by the mining company the area was devoid of life he found it teeming with activity – as he found during an earlier deep ocean swim when his route traced a big x across the promised mining site.
"We were celebrating the fact I'd done the crossing and this was now a no go zone for the miners. At that very moment, and I feel this defies coincidence, a pod of dolphins appeared and did a victory roll around our boat. It was a beautiful, spiritual moment, almost as though they were saying thank you and it was tautoko," Dr Steward says.
On the swims he also had a chance to contemplate his colleague, Palestinian doctor Amjad Hamid, was killed in the Christchurch mosque attack.
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