Taking a break from their typical 'dog bites man' shark attack stories, the AP is reporting that a school of dolphins kept a group of swimmers from becoming lunch. (full story below)

A New Zealand lifeguard says it was a group of dolphins that did the life-saving when he and some other swimmers were threatened by a shark.

Rob Howes says he was swimming with his 15-year-old daughter and two friends when a group of dolphins started circling the swimmers and herding them into a tight group.

He didn't know why they were doing it -- until he spotted a great white shark cruising toward them.

Howes told a newspaper that the dolphins "pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us." When he tried to drift away from the group, two of the bigger dolphins herded him back.

He says seven dolphins stayed with them for 40 minutes, swimming in circles and slapping the water with their tails.

Do you suppose the shark goes back and tells his shark-buddies about the ones that got away?