Posted on 03/12/2008 4:26:50 PM PDT by blam
New Zealand dolphin rescued stranded whales
Last Updated: 6:10pm GMT 12/03/2008
A dolphin led a pair of stranded whales to safety on Monday after all efforts by a human rescuer had failed.
Mr Smith said he was 'not aware dolphins could communicate with pygmy sperm whales'
The pygmy sperm whales, a 10ft female and her 7ft male calf, were seen to be in trouble off a New Zealand beach. They appeared to have become confused by a sandbar near the beach and could not find their way back to open water.
Conservation Officer Malcolm Smith was called to Mahia beach, on the east coast of the North Island, to try to help them.
“I pushed them back out to sea two or three times over an hour and a half, and they were very reluctant to move offshore,” he said yesterday.
“I was starting to get cold and they were becoming tired. I began to think I’d done as much as I could.”
Just then a bottlenose dolphin, named Moko by locals, appeared in the waters off the beach.
Mr Smith said he could hear the whales and the dolphin making noises to each other – and then the whales followed Moko out to sea.
“The whales made contact with the dolphin and she escorted them about 200 yards parallel with the beach to the edge of the sandbar,” explained Mr Smith.
“Then she did a right-angle turn through a quite narrow channel and led them out to sea. There’s been no sign of the whales since Monday.
“I was not aware dolphins could communicate with pygmy sperm whales, but something happened that allowed Moko to guide the two whales to safety.”
He added: “I’ve never heard of anything like this before, it was amazing.”
Moko has become famous for her antics, which include playing with swimmers, approaching boats to be petted and pushing kayaks.
Stranded whales are usually humanely killed after efforts to free them have been exhausted, so it would appear that Moko saved their lives.
“I don’t know if next time we have a whale stranding we can get her to come in again. She certainly saved the day this time,” said Mr Smith.
A good news story, heartwarming and refreshing :-)
Especially with all that has dominated today’s headlines
Put a cape on that super-hero!
So long and thanks for all the fish.
About 2 people out of 100 might get the reference. But for those of us that do, nice one.
Stories like this let us know why people come to respect or revere dolphins. And why Dr. John Lilly let his go free.
Sorry, my above reply was meant for blam.
I’ll do this right yet.
Sorry, my above reply was meant for blam.
Tell Moko to skip Ted Kennedy, the Cape Cod Orca, the Chappaquidick Cod, the Moby Dick of Massachusetts.
ping
Could be that some whales do not have the “equipment(sonar)” for functioning in very shallow water.. but dolphins do..
I can hear it now...
“Flipper go save the whales.”
Yup. No matter what I do a search for, it always comes back 'nothing found.' So, I'll start using 'search' again when it starts working.
btt
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