Like Superhero, Dolphin Saves Beached Pygmy Sperm Whales
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada 
on 03.12.08
After yesterday's sad story about death camps for cats, here's something more joyous: A bottlenose dolphin, known as Moko to the locals, has rescued two beached pygmy sperm whales 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." That's when, like a superhero, Moko made its entry and seemed to communicate with the whales, leading them to safety.
"I don't speak whale and I don't speak dolphin," Mr Smith told the BBC, "but there was obviously something that went on because the two whales changed their attitude from being quite distressed to following the dolphin quite willingly and directly along the beach and straight out to sea."He added: "The dolphin did what we had failed to do. It was all over in a matter of minutes."
The whales haven't been seen since, but Moko the dolphin has returned and shows up often to pla with swimmers off Mahia beach.
Malcolm Smith was so happy about the turn of events that he actually went into the water to give the dolphin a pat on the back.
::NZ dolphin rescues beached whales
See also: ::Brazilian Fishermen Kill 83 Dolphins, Joke About It, ::Dolphins and Whales 3D: An Unforgettable Experience, ::Whale Power: More Efficienct Fan Blades Mimic Humpback Fins, ::Iceland Calls the Whale Thing Off
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