It’s not every day that a newly certified sailor lucks upon a pod of dolphins, who then lead him to a spot where he could see a hand barely poking out of the water.

That hand belonged to a naked, drowning woman.

Tales of dolphins saving sailors and other seafaring folks from meeting an unfortunate end have been a mainstay throughout human history.

In ancient Greek culture, dolphins were our rescuers – and today they’re no different.

Not only do our intelligent, ocean-dwelling cousins demonstrate self-awareness, but they’re also quick learners who have a deep yearning to help those in need.

Which makes them perfect in their self-appointed roles as aquatic first responders of the 7 seas!

So it should come as no surprise that when a pod of “rescue dolphins” found a woman struggling to stay afloat 3 miles off the coast of Marina Del Rey in California, they immediately sought the resources of a human for some extra assistance.

That human turned out to be a newly certified boat captain, Khosrow “Koz” Khosravani, who had just finished a 5-day training on boat safety.

At the beginning of their trip, Koz taught everyone on his sailboat what to do in case someone went overboard. It was just standard practice.

“I told them these things will never happen but it’s good to know,” he told KTLA. “Well, 30 minutes later, they needed all the training.”

The college professor set sail with a group of friends on his maiden voyage with the sailboat he just purchased. When they spotted some dolphins splashing around in the water, the excited crew decided to change course so they could get a better view.

That’s when Koz noticed something unusual – there appeared to be a hand waving in the water.

The hand wasn’t frantically waving around as one might expect when someone knows they are about to get rescued. The woman to who the hand belonged had very little energy left to do anything except succumb to the ever-increasing swells.

She had been floating on her back in the ocean for 12 hours at that point, freezing and near death.

“I consider myself maybe spiritual rather than religious. But the things that happened one after another, if all wouldn’t have aligned together, this lady wouldn’t be with us today.”

Had it not been for the dolphins doing their amazing rescue thing, it’s likely this woman would have ended up as another casualty of the unforgiving sea.

“They really directed me to her. I would have never, ever seen her if it wasn’t for the dolphins,” Kaz told Inside Edition.

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Source: Inside Edition, KTLA