Thousands of dolphins block Somali pirates

[onestepforward]

This is a translated article:

BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Thousands of dolphins blocked the suspected Somali pirate ships when they were trying to attack Chinese merchant ships passing the Gulf of Aden, the China Radio International reported on Monday.

The Chinese merchant ships escorted by a China's fleet sailed on the Gulf of Aden when they met some suspected pirate ships. Thousands of dolphins suddenly leaped out of water between pirates and merchants when the pirate ships headed for the China's.

The suspected pirates ships stopped and then turned away. The pirates could only lament their littleness befor the vast number of dolphins. The spectacular scene continued for a while.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/14/content_11184581.htm


I don't know if the dolphins were blocking the pirates on purpose, but it is an interesting story. :)

[underpants]

1. Dwight Shrute on dolphins

11.Dolphins get a lot of good publicity for the drowning swimmers they push back to shore, but what you don’t hear about is the many people they push farther out to sea! Dolphins aren’t smart. They just like pushing things.

http://bevan.net/2009/06/10/top-20-dwight-schrute-posts/

[onehandle]

6. LOL!

It's funny because it's true.

[G_j]

19. Dolphins have been declared the world’s second most intelligent creatures

(Though, I am in no way implying that getting involved in the affairs of humans is intelligent!)


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7389760


Source: TIMES UK

January 3, 2010

Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons'

Dolphins have been declared the world’s second most intelligent creatures after humans, with scientists suggesting they are so bright that they should be treated as “non-human persons”.



Studies into dolphin behavior have highlighted how similar their communications are to those of humans and that they are brighter than chimpanzees. These have been backed up by anatomical research showing that dolphin brains have many key features associated with high intelligence.

The researchers argue that their work shows it is morally unacceptable to keep such intelligent animals in amusement parks or to kill them for food or by accident when fishing. Some 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die in this way each year.

“Many dolphin brains are larger than our own and second in mass only to the human brain when corrected for body size,” said Lori Marino, a zoologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, who has used magnetic resonance imaging scans to map the brains of dolphin species and compare them with those of primates

[jmondine]

25. I used to agree that humans were the most intelligent form of life on Earth...

... then I realized, "Look who's telling me that".

I withhold my judgment until I hear an outside opinion.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. I think you meant to say, "on porpoise" of course. :^P

[onestepforward]

7. LOL! Good one!

[KittyWampus]

3. I love Magical Dolphin stories

:)

[Captain Hilts]

4. Me too. Hear about the one that was recovering from an illness at a Marineland type

place, and, while there, learned to tailwalk on the water. When it was released back to its pod in the ocean, it taught its friends how to tailwalk in the wild. How cool is that?

[npk]

5. Great, now the Chinese also own the dolphins, in addition to our debt.

This was obviously a coordinated strike attack. And to think otherwise would simply be foolish. :D

[hvn_nbr_2]

8. This proves that dolphins are commies. Nuke 'em all! I'm series!11!!!1!!11!

[MattBaggins]

16. Are you casting asparagus on porpoise?

[Tailormyst]

26. ..........

:spray:
:rofl:

[ThomWV]

9. It has also been proven that Dolphins worship our Lord and Savior, so they must hate heathens

Dolphins are good so they must be Christians. See how simple it is?

[Codeine]

10. Because when I want to understand the complex behavior

of intelligent sea mammals, I turn to Chinese state media. :eyes:

Plus this is a year-old story.

[mia]

11. "angelically directed dolphins"

Go Down, Elian
by Thomas Hambrick-Stowe

From the beginning, the saga of Elian Gonzalez was about politics—of the Cuban community in South Florida, of Cuba itself, and of a U.S. presidential election year. But the politics were not only secular. For many Cuban-Americans, Elian’s cause was religious. Forty-eight hours after the boy was plucked from the sea on Thanksgiving Day, Spanish radio stations in Miami began to receive calls attributing his survival to angelically directed dolphins....






The joined forces of Roman Catholic and Santeria imagery can best be seen in a Miami folk mural depicting Elian’s miraculous rescue. In an AP photo published in the Lancaster (Pa.) Intelligencer Journal, the mural shows Elian floating on the sea in his inner tube with Our Lady of Charity (Ochun) and Eleggua in the tube with him. Three dolphins circle around, while overhead preside the hands of God and a tiny Virgin and Child. The scene is framed by large scales of justice in which repose the head of Pope John Paul II on one side and that of President Clinton on the other. In the background hover two shadowy images of Fidel Castro, a grim-faced Statue of Liberty, Jesus himself, and an archangel holding another scale.

Why was Castro so eager to get Elian back? Several theories were offered. According to Cabrera Infante, "Elian is a divine Elleggua...if the boy remains in Miami, Mr. Castro will fall from power." Babalao Victor Betancourt told the New York Times that Elian "symbolizes the child who, in the santero oracle for the year 2000, conquered death when he discovered that the representative of evil owed his power to the suit he always wore. Therefore, whoever possesses Elian possesses good protection against sickness and death. He is the chosen one, I’m sure about that."

Novelist Francisco Goldman declared in an April 30 Los Angeles Times op-ed, "rom Cuba came the revelation...that if the boy didn’t return to Cuba, Castro would lose the spiritual aura that protects him from death." Another "old story in Little Havana," reported Jane Wells in CNBC’s Upfront Tonight, "is that Castro was told by a Santero priest years ago his downfall would come from a child saved by angels of the sea."


http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/csrpl/RINVol3No2/elian.htm

[onestepforward]

20. Thanks! Very cool!

[AwakeAtLast]

12. I believe they are that intelligent to do this deliberately

Call me crazy, but I do.

[applegrove]

13. If the dolphins were ever told what humans do to them all over the world

I bet they wouldn't protect us so often.

[havocmom]

14. Perhaps dolphins are so enlightened that they believe even humans can be redeemed?

havocmom had a school chum who was saved by a dolphin or porpoise. The kid was pretty battered and bruised, but safe on a rocky break water after bouncing off back end of speeding boat and striking head. Sea going guardian angle stayed with her and made a ruckus until some passing boaters found her and took her aboard for the short trip to the harbor and medical care.

We may or may not be the smartest species on this planet, but we are definitely not the kindest.

[applegrove]

15. I'm haunted by an image I saw in the movie "The Cove". I had to leave

halfway through that movie. Dolphins are such intellegent animals it is just awful what we do to them. It is murder.

[havocmom]

17. yep. We are a species with too many ill members

Sometimes I think we are an evolutionary experiment that should come to an end

[onestepforward]

24. An amazing story!

Stories about acts of kindness, even from other species, always touch my heart like no other.

This is a short video (1 1/2 min.) of a dolphin who helps to save 2 whales in New Zealand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp_motddvnQ

[Arugula Latte]

18. For some reason the phrase "sharks with frickin' laser beams" popped into my head.

Go, dolphins!

[Odin2005]

21. YAY DOLPHINS!!!

:D

[AnArmyVeteran]

22. Somalia = Conservative Paradise = Teabagistan

[AnArmyVeteran]

23. Awesome picture! Go dolphins!

[Ysabel]

27. you mean on porpoise ?

- lol...

p.s. great pic...

[Lochloosa]

28. They would have escorted the pirates if it had been a Japanese ship.