NZ dolphin rescues beached whales (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

A dolphin has come to the rescue of two whales which had become stranded on a beach in New Zealand.

Conservation officer Malcolm Smith told the BBC that he and a group of other people had tried in vain for an hour and a half to get the whales to sea.

The pygmy sperm whales had repeatedly beached, and both they and the humans were tired and set to give up, he said.

But then the dolphin appeared, communicated with the whales, and led them to safety.

The bottlenose dolphin, called Moko by local residents, is well known for playing with swimmers off Mahia beach on the east coast of the North Island.
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7291501.stm

[phantom power]

1. I don't suppose anybody got a recording of that exchange.

[TheMadMonk]

3. Perhaps: "Listen fiddlewits. The ocean's this way." nt

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Female whale: "I TOLD you we should stop and ask directions!" nt

[Nihil]

6. "Quick, get away from the humans before they kill you ..." n/t

[hisownpetard]

2. Wonderful story - made me cry.

[Judi Lynn]

5. We've heard of dolphins leading ships through dangerous waters at the tip of Africa,

over and over again.

What a wonder it is if this story could be true. It's a far finer purpose this creature sought than the grotesque ideas conceived by the U.S. military in using dolphins to find or place explosives, etc.