Was Actor Dick Van Dyke Rescued by Porpoises?

On last night's Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, actor Dick Van Dyke was promoting the Blu-ray release of Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang. He shared a brief story about when he was surfing off the coast of Virginia beach. To hear his incredible story, skip to 8:50 in this video:

"I went out once and fell asleep on that board [a 10-inch longboard], I did, and woke up out of sight of land. And I looked around and I started paddling with the swells, and I started seeing fins swimming around me and I thought, you know, 'I'm dead.' They turned out to be porpoises, they pushed me all the way to shore. I'm not kidding."—Dick Van Dyke.

Were the porpoises somehow sent to help Dick in his time of need? If we take Dick at his word, I'm not sure how else you can explain it.

Of course, no one was looking out for Dick when he tripped over that ottoman...