Former Australian Warship Scuttled After Dolphin Delay

Plans to sink a decommissioned warship on Wednesday off the Australian coast of New South Wales were delayed for more than one hour… due to a pod of curious dolphins encircling the area.

The pod of dolphins was spotted inside the exclusion zone, established around the HMAS Adelaide moments after a five minute notice flare was shot in the air.

With thousands watching from a nearby beach and anchored boats, marine authorities used a boat to scare the dolphins away from the danger zone.

After about an hour's delay, the decommissioned battle ship sunk into the depths of the Tasman Sea, following a sequence of explosions and fireworks.

The ship was scuttled in order to create an artificial reef which is expected to draw diving tourists to the region.