By Joel Provano

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Actor Dick Van Dyke says he was once rescued at sea by porpoises after falling asleep on his surf board.

Van Dyke claimed that when he woke up, he could not see the shore.

Van Dyke, 84, told CBS talk show host Craig Ferguson that the porpoises pushed him back to shore.

"I woke up out of sight of land ... and I started paddling with the swells and I started seeing fins swimming around me and I thought, ‘I'm dead!'" he told Ferguson.

"They turned out to be porpoises [and] they pushed me all the way to shore. I'm not kidding."

Van Dyke did not say where or when the incident happened.

Van Dyke's long career in television began in Atlanta, where he was the host of a local variety show in the early '50s.

He went on to stardom in "The Dick Van Dyke Show" with co-star Mary Tyler Moore, and had roles in dozens of movies, including "Mary Poppins" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."

His most recent work was in this year's comedy film "Furry Vengeance," which starred Brendan Fraser and Brooke Shields.