Design Crafters

For those people who think dolphins no more than “fish”, perhaps you’ll change your mind after reading this story.

Moko, a wild bottlenosed dolphin is usually famous for swimming playfully with humans at a New Zealand beach. But this week, he’s proven himself to be a very intelligent hero when he swam up to two stranded whales and guided them to safety.

“Before Moko arrived, rescue workers had been working for more than an hour to get two pygmy sperm whales, a mother and her calf, back out to sea after they were stranded Monday off Mahia Beach, said Conservation Department worker Malcolm Smith.”

Right when it looked like the whales would have to be euthanized to avoid a prolonged death, along came Moko, “who approached the whales and appeared to lead them as they swam 200 yards along the beach and through a channel out to the open sea.”

“Moko just came flying through the water and pushed in between us and the whales,” Juanita Symes, another rescuer, told The Associated Press. “She got them to head toward the hill, where the channel is. It was an amazing experience.”

“Anton van Helden, a marine mammals expert at New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, said the reports of Moko’s rescue were “fantastic” but believable because the dolphins have “a great capacity for altruistic activities.”

These included evidence of dolphins protecting people lost at sea, and their playfulness with other animals.

“But it’s the first time I’ve heard of an inter-species refloating technique. I think that’s wonderful,” said van Helden, who was not involved in the rescue but spoke afterward to Smith.”

I sure hope someone got a picture of that to use for their photo Christmas cards.

This article can be found at http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=333&sid=2840776