By RAY LILLEY, Associated Press Writer
Wed Mar 12, 5:42 PM ET



WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Most days, Moko the bottlenosed dolphin swims playfully with humans at a New Zealand beach. But this week, it seems, Moko found his mojo. Witnesses described Wednesday how they saw the dolphin swim up to two stranded whales and guide 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.

But Smith said the whales restranded themselves four times on a sandbar slightly out to sea from the beach, about 300 miles northeast of the capital, Wellington. It looked likely they would have to be euthanized to prevent a prolonged death, he said.

"They kept getting disorientated and stranding again," said Smith, who was among the rescuers. "They obviously couldn't find their way back past (the sandbar) to the sea."

Then 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'm so happy for the intervention and help from the dolphin, and would have loved to witness that myself! Nature is truely amazing!

That is truely awesome.

Kinda shows that dolphins are indeed as intelligent as humans in alot of ways. As well as empathtic as well. Moko was able to do what humans couldn't. Now that's class.

I agree that is incredible.

That very much depends on the dolphin species. Some dolphins have very limited learning capabilities.
Bottlenose dolphins though are generally not nice though and despite media hype are dangerous animals.

Any animals can be dangerous depending on the situation. Moko appears to enjoys interacting with other species evidenced by her playing with the humans on the beach. She just decided to give the humans a hand helping the whales off the beach. Dolphins have an intelligence similar to our own. We can be very altruistic and dangerous at the same time, too.

Dolphins are beautiful and intelligent mammels....I would have loved to have seen this one using it's natural instincts to help the two whales in trouble..One of the things that always amazed me, is their training to be interactive with humans....When my daughter was in the islands, she swam with them, saying it was an experience she would never forget...And when my son used to surf, they would stay on the sides of the boards, and come in with them....Now I want to buy a dolphin

Again, very subjective. There are a lot of dolphin species that show very little in the way of intelligence.
Like any wild animal, they should never be approached deliberately (as this can lead to the animals attacking).

I would not say that was there natural instinct. The natural instinct of dolphins is to kill there food and to have a lot of sex (species of recipient not always important). If the dolphin species at the beach was the orca, bet you would have seen a different outcome for the whales.

Of course if it was an Orca it would have had a different outcome...So if it's not an instinct that this dolphin did this, then what do you call it...

Great!!!!! A porpoise with a purpose...

Amen, Darkwind! Amen!

There are humans that show very little in he way of intelligence as well.

I don't know, it is more likely the dolphin was harassing the whale, and the whale chased the dolphin off.

Stick a bottlenose with a common dolphin and watch the bottlenose attack it.

Lol, that is very true. However I was referring to species. Only orcas have shown truely highly levels of intelligence in the dolphins.
The article is a little factually light. There are far more likely out comes to this than the dolphin was leading the whales (harassing, playing investigation) and made some very tenuous statements.
Please don't take this as me disliking dolphins (I work for a dolphin research lab), I just feel a realistic portrayal of animals is important for safety of both us and the animals (dolphins being harassed has led to the killing).

Darkwind, the article is rather poor in detail, I find it highly doubtful in its conclusion. Also Bottlenose dolphins shown nothing to suggest they have a human level intelligence.

Awesome, Yet Heart Warming...

Gotta Love That Dolphin Moko!

I guess anything is possible...I was responding to the article itself, which made it sound like the dolphin knew they were in trouble...But then again, we only know what we read...Thanks for the response...

How do you explain this behavior, Mattshark?

I would say it is misinterpretation. Great whites readily eat bottlenose dolphins. They are one of the primary predators (along with bull and tiger sharks, seen readily where I work, like when a colleague of mine found the remains of a bottlenose after it uncounted a bull shark (which are a lot smaller than great whites), the remains consisted of a dorsal fin and a piece of spinal column). The dolphins more than like moved to the people for protection themselves as great whites don't (contrary to common misconception) eat humans.
It may also interest you that bottlenose dolphins attack a great many people each year (especially in captivity) and is the number one animal when it comes to sexual assault and rape.
If you want to see how a bottlenose will commonly react to a predator look up the work of Dr Randy Wells, the leader in dolphin behavioural studies. He tested dolphin responses to sharks and the only response they had to bull sharks was to flee or look for protection.

And to back it up Shark attacks on bottlenose dolphins.

could u back that up with a couple of citations plse...

Min x

Thats difficult at the moment, due too beer, but I will (there is a resident dolphin called begger in little Sarasota bay who has been responsible for at least 50 bites in the past few years, this is unpublished though, I know this through work at the Sarasota Dolphin Research Institute). Many dolphin attacks do not get reported however due to embarrassment (again from marine mammalogists I work with). I will post some documented attacks when sober.
But think about it, is it surprising that a 3m carnivore would attack? Especially in captivity (this is part of the reason that dolphin captivity is becoming increasingly banned world wide as most attacks are in captivity.

MattShark does make his living in the science of the ocean. I appreciate the things he shares with us. I'm far more fearful of sea creatures than Matt, and yet fear underwater creatures, personally.

Profoundly. Matt, should sharks die, I've mixed feelings about it.

My best wishes to Moko.

You have to love dolphins.


NO living creature on this planet should die, please keep that in mind.

Cheers.

the first time i seen dolphins up close i was amazed how much bigger they are in person . anyway this reminds me of an experience when i was about 13, porpoises had been sighted in a large river that runs past the town i live in, and me and a couple of freinds were walking down the marshes and we seen a stranded porpoise with grazes and cuts on it, it looked very distressed we didnt really know what to do but i knew i had to stop it from getting dehydrated so we searched for something and all we could find was a bottle and a plastic bag we didnt know who to call so we just called the police ( i know but we were only 13) who then put us through to a animal resuce serivce based about 45 mins away so we just stayed there putting water on the porpoise and comforting it, the animal rescuer got lost and in the end it took about 1-1.30 hours to get to where we were, basically when they got here they put it back in the water....but it got stranded again so we rescued it again and again it got stranded, the man who came to help the porpoise told us that this was probably the mother of a baby who had died about a week back on the same shore the third attempt got the porpoise on the right track and it swam off... i hope it didnt get stranded again

I hope it made it, too. What a fine thing for a 13-year old to have done. Noble, even. Great work, Red-star.

thanks ive always had a soft spot for animals

No, sharks are extremely important in the their ecosystems, they are the apex predator in many ecosystems. As highly level predators they actually help keep the populations of the their prey healthy by removing the weak. They are a wonderful example of top down control.
Sharks genuinely provide little threat to humans, attacks are rare and fatal attacks are even rarer (usually under 100 attacks worldwide and under 10 fatalities) much less than many other animals and vending machines.

As i've been reading all the comments, i have to say that first i really respect what you did at such a young age Red Star! And totally agree with Alex that no animal should die, because we fear it or for any other reason humans excuse themselves for senseless killing unless it's attacking you, it's understandable! I also agree with Mattshark that dolphins as well as any animal can be dangerous, and often they are simply acting on instinct! But i do believe they are very intelligent, and wouldn't rule out that they might act with a desire to help at times either! I also am not a fan of these animals or any being kept in captivity for human amusement, when clearly they are all better off when living their lives in freedom! I realise that in the interest of learning and understanding these creatures many will be held in captivity! I,m not as against it if the animal has been injured, rescued, and it'ts clear they would no longer be able to make it on their own in their natural environment! I also love sharks, and think their amazing, and without them the oceans would be in great trouble as well as mankind! And of course i can't be sure what was going on in this dolphins mind, or how much was instinct when these whales were rescued by it's actions! All i know is that it worked, whatever the reason, and motivation behinde the dolphins actions! And i was very happy, and amazed at the outcome, and celebrate the happy ending in this case!

Some articles
On Beggar:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/whales/23805

Aggression towards humans, especially in captivity:
http://planktonforums.org/viewtopic.php?p=...hins+mean#52953
http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?ar..._id=59318706104
http://www.wspa-usa.org/pages/320_dolphin_aggression.cfm
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/dolphins/26242
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/Ne...2050825,00.html
http://tursiops.org/modules.php?name=News&...ticle&sid=7
http://planktonforums.org/viewtopic.php?p=...+incident#57956
http://www.hsus.org/marine_mammals/what_ar..._captivity.html (in the section about issues with SWTD or DAT programs)
http://www.wildfordolphins.com/TIinjuries.html
Also check out National Geographics Hunter Hunted: Dolphin Attacks

Sexual advances towards humans:
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/06/04/uk.dolphin/
http://www.sexwork.com/family/dolphinrape.html
http://celebgossips.blogspot.com/2006/06/j...hins-horny.html
There are also a few references in books written by people working with captive dolphins about the dolphins turning to people for sexual stimulation (Dolphin Chronicles mentions it for example)

Aggression/harassment towards other cetaceans including their own offspring:
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/offbe...s-murderers/731
http://youtube.com/watch?v=inoH7mQ9Eiw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_J2N5ttFBN8
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m120...154/ai_21003387
National Geographic I believe also ran a documentary focusing on dolphin aggression, called something like, Dolphins; The dark side, or something like that.


Also: Problems with sociable dolphins:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtm...adolphin122.xml

I personally love dolphins and I am glad to be working with them at the moment, they are fascinating and complex animals however I have no illusions about them being happy, people-saving saints. They are fun to watch when they are socialising and playing, no doubt, but they are also dangerous and often anything but friendly towards other cetaceans- and people- hence they need to be respected as the magnificent predators they are. There are a lot of dangerous animals that are playful when circumstances allow it, however they have the advantage of not having a deceiving fixed smile plastered onto their face which makes them look friendly.

It is no doubt an interesting story but I personally have some doubts on the intentions of the dolphin, bottlenose dolphins are not exactly known for their loving (unless 'loving' is put in a different context) attitude to their fellow cetacean species, you know harassing dolphins of other species, killing porpoises and all that.
They are however quite curious so I don't doubt she went to check out these two. The presence of another cetacean might have calmed them after being around strange two legged creatures for several hours and they might have followed her out off the sand bank when they were in turn checking her out (realising maybe she was in deeper water) but I am not convinced about the whole communicating with each other and actually guiding them. There is just a little too little information about the whole thing and a lot of 'dolphins saved my life' stories turn out to have been based on some other circumstances and instincts; protecting their young for example, because as pointed out before, the most common response to large dangerous species of sharks is to flee if fleeing is an option. In large groups they may occasionally mob the shark (a behaviour also shown by sealions btw), however this is most likely in self defense to dive the shark off before it can even think of attacking or -as in the case with porpoises and other cetaceans- just for the fun of it if there is little chance to be injured because they are in a bigger group or alternatively, the shark is not that big.
There are also some stories about drowning people being supported at the surface which some may quote as examples of empathy towards other species, however, bottlenose dolphins have also been observed supporting inanimate objects like mattresses or a small shark they themselves recently killed (mentioned in 'Between Species by Toni Frohoff), suggesting it is an instinct linked to the need of supporting newly born calves at the surface rather than empathy and/or near human intelligence causing them to attempt to 'save' someone- or in the case of the mattress something.
Because of this, I feel some other options rather than the altruistic dolphin saves the day should be considered as well.
I doubt that anyone recorded the calls, which is a pity because otherwise the type of calls made during the encounter might have given some clue as to what was going on.

so dolphins are the rapists of the animal kingdom? haha, but seriously ive always wanted to swim with dolphins there beautiful creatures and they fascinate me

I would not recommend swimming with dolphins. In the wild it is illegal, in captivity it is cruel.

Can't blame them for wanting sexual stimulations.

And really.. if you want to pull the "misinterprate" card.. I would then say they wouldn't know they're "raping" someone out of cruelity and control like humans do.

Because they gang rape and when it occurs, it is clear the female is in distress, she is held in place forcefully by numerous mammals. Such behaviour is seen in camels too. Just like cruelty is the only explanation when they kill porpoise. They porpoise is not a threat, they don't eat it and the porpoise actively avoid the dolphin.

Again.. actions are being overlayed with human interpratations.

Which are well studied and well researched beyond reasonable doubt. Dolphins can be cruel and sexually aggressive, just ask Jessica Alba.
Or if you want to ask a biologist (other than me) ask my work (Sarasota Dolphin Research Program) at Mote Marine.
Or just go look a killer whale kill a pacific whitesided dolphin.

I'm sure. Then who's to say that this dolphin wasn't or was helping the whale and her calf? It's just as possible for this dolphin to help as it is for dolphins to rape.


Regardless.

The other explanations are far more plausible, lex parsimoniae. The helping is just good for a media story. It is bad science though.
Dolphins are not generally known for being helpful, it is not a great idea if you are a carnivorous animal.

I remind you all that dolphins are wild animals, so you can't really expect them to be helpful and playful always.

That's what I was saying.

It's so cool to see different species helping eachother out. Like a disney movie coming to life.

Can you blame them? I guess even dolphins know a hot woman when they see one.

I tend to agree with you though. There's little to suggest that dolphins are friendly and helpful in the wild, it seems that the most likely explanations for many of these different stories of them helping people involve the dolphin benefiting from the interaction in some way.

*shakes fist* grrr.
There a many much more plausible explanations than this! This is media reporting, not science.