Dolphin rescues stranded whales

Dolphin rescues stranded whales

www.cnn.com

death in a beach stranding in New Zealand and guided them to safety, witnesses said Wednesday.

The actions of the bottlenose dolphin -- named Moko by residents who said it spends much of its time swimming playfully with humans at the beach -- amazed would-be rescuers and an expert who said they were evidence of the species' friendly nature.

The two pygmy sperm whales, a mother and her calf, were found stranded on Mahia Beach, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of the capital of Wellington, on Monday morning, said Conservation Department worker Malcolm Smith.

Rescuers worked for more than one hour to get the whales back into the water, only to see them strand themselves four times on a sandbar slightly out to sea. It looked likely the whales would have to be euthanized to prevent them suffering a prolonged death, Smith 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."

Along came Moko, who approached the whales and led them 200 meters (yards) along the beach and through a channel out to the open sea.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Some may think this is "light" news, but I believe that it is important that we see and understand the full scope of intelligence, both individual and collective, of animal and insect life in nature.

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 12-3-2008 by Silenceisall]

I like this because "alternative news" doesnt necessarily only mean "bad news". Bad news we get enough from mass-media.

Keep the good (alternative) news coming.

Here's another article about dolphins helping out a fellow mammal:

Source

The dolphins bunched the four swimmers together by circling about 4-8 centimetres from them, and slapping the water with their tails for about 40 minutes.

Howes said he drifted away from the main group when an opening occurred. One large dolphin became agitated and submerged toward Howes, who turned to see where it would surface.

That, he says, is when he saw a great white shark about two metres away in the beach's crystal clear waters.

reply to post by Silenceisall


But of course. They're the second most intelligent creature on the planet. No surprises that the third most intelligent creature on the planet had no success earlier

reply to post by Skyfloating


I had the same thought. There is good news out there, and it is just as interesting as the negative stuff.

I like the story as well because it shows that Human intelligence isn't the only intelligence of merit. Often we are too arrogant to see the value and beauty of other species on this planet.

Originally posted by Beachcoma
reply to post by Silenceisall

 

But of course. They're the second most intelligent creature on the planet. No surprises that the third most intelligent creature on the planet had no success earlier

The "third most"? That's generous.

Originally posted by kosmicjack
I like the story as well because it shows that Human intelligence isn't the only intelligence of merit. Often we are too arrogant to see the value and beauty of other species on this planet.

Very well said.

If only all of humanity was this kind/compassionate towards others on this planet.

I second what Skyfloating said, keep the good news coming.

Makes you wonder, seeing as this dolphin has had a lot of prior human contact, did the dolphin pick up a sense of compassion or concern (for the whales) from us, or did it develope naturally?

Furthermore, are we ascribing emotion to the dolphin because it is the only way we can understand its actions towards these whales, or is it (the emotion) really there?

reply to post by Silenceisall


Read this a few hrs ago on MSM, Slience...thanks for sharing it to the wider ATS community

To think these guys can communicate between species is mindblowing !!!!

And to think the Japanese feel the need to slaughter over 1000 of these creatures per year half way round the world from where they live ?

This is not moral or right by any measure...

I have no problem with the Japanese taking a small catch per year on their own doorstep...But when the do it on my doorstep, year after year, 10,000 kms from their own homes...

Lookout...

Australia will be right up their butts at the next and future IWC conferences....

This pillaging of marine resources outside ones own territorial waters must cease NOW...

Peace

Originally posted by InSpiteOf
If only all of humanity was this kind/compassionate towards others on this planet.

I second what Skyfloating said, keep the good news coming.

Makes you wonder, seeing as this dolphin has had a lot of prior human contact, did the dolphin pick up a sense of compassion or concern (for the whales) from us, or did it develope naturally?

Furthermore, are we ascribing emotion to the dolphin because it is the only way we can understand its actions towards these whales, or is it (the emotion) really there?

Interesting questions. I don't know if that dolphin, and others like it, is running on human compassion. I can't imagine that it would have come into too much contact with that phenomenon, but possibly. I would say that it had more to do with the dolphin's intelligence and its deep organic awareness of the interconnectedness of nature. It understands unconsciously (which is a very deep understanding) that what happens to the whales happens to its own ecosystem. Beautiful creatures.

[edit on 12-3-2008 by Silenceisall]

Originally posted by Rilence
reply to post by Silenceisall

 

Read this a few hrs ago on MSM, Slience...thanks for sharing it to the wider ATS community

To think these guys can communicate between species is mindblowing !!!!

And to think the Japanese feel the need to slaughter over 1000 of these creatures per year half way round the world from where they live ?

This is not moral or right by any measure...

I have no problem with the Japanese taking a small catch per year on their own doorstep...But when the do it on my doorstep, year after year, 10,000 kms from their own homes...

Lookout...

Australia will be right up their butts at the next and future IWC conferences....

This pillaging of marine resources outside ones own territorial waters must cease NOW...

Peace

Agreed. I too am glad that Australia is taking a stand. They have a good government in place now, which should help move the cause ahead. As for their communication--both dolphins and whales--humans have just scratched the surface of its complexity and nuance. Scientists are now beginning to understand that their sonic form of language contains far more information--in a compressed form--than the language we use.



[edit on 12-3-2008 by Silenceisall]

Dolphins are amazing creatures. My parents used to spend a couple of weeks sailing in the caribbean with friends and they were always spotting dolphin around the boat. One time, they were sailing from one island to the next and the dolphin stopped swimming alongside the boat. Instead, they started jumping directly in front of the boat. they were actually becoming intrusive, making it near impossible to continue moving without hitting them. my parents and their friends were, fortunately, operating in no wind so they were travelling by motor. they cut back on the gas, slowing to a complete stop to see why the dolphin were making such a fuss in front of them. the dolphin then started swimming and jumping from the front of the boat to the back. that's when they saw it. their dinghy was floating behind them. It had, apparently, broken loose and they were in the process of leaving it behind.


in cabo san lucas the charter boat captains leave the marina and then follow the dolphin to the fish. the spinners take them to tuna, the jumpers take them to sailfish. I learned this first hand when I was there a few years back. we left the marina and slowed down a bit. then we saw some dolphin jumping along the bow of the boat. there were other dolphin leaping and spinning but we followed the ones just swimming and jumping in front of us. I asked the crew and they said you follow the ones that spin if you want tuna. you follow the the ones we were following for the sailfish and marlin. we chased the dolphin until they suddenly vanished. we put the lines in the water and hooked a striped marlin in about ten minutes.

Stories like this and stories of dolphin alerting sailors to dangers reefs are actually quite common.

WOW !!!

Stephen, that is an amazing story

Awesome 10X really !!!

If that isn't a reason to conserve every member of the species (within a renewable target), I don't know what is...

They truly are amazing creatures.....

The mind boggles is if these guys had been subjected to "almost" ideal conditions when it comes to evolution as we had....

Something tells me they would have given us a serious run for our money, intelligence wise....Heck, they almost do now, minus the weapons....

Peace

Originally posted by Rilence
Something tells me they would have given us a serious run for our money, intelligence wise....Heck, they almost do now, minus the weapons....

I think the only reason we're deemed higher on the intelligence chain is because we have the ability to manipulate objects with our hands. if you gave dolphins arms I'm guessing they'd spend the better part of their lives outsmarting us so they can slap us around for being so damned stupid.

That's interesting and not surprizing at all from some of the stuff I've heard. They seem to almost have a sense of inter-species community, something that we could learn from...and, I hope, where we are headed.

Thanks

I found this terrific article on whale communication while searching for an article on an undersea layering feature that lets whales communicate across oceans. Couldn't find that or the name of the feature but the article I linked to talks about whales communicating from Newfoundland and Bermuda.

Whales will aim directly at a seamount that is 300 miles away, then once they reach it, change course and head to a new feature. It is as if they are slaloming from one geographic feature to the next. They must have acoustic memories analogous to our visual memories," he says.

Secrets of whale communication over distances

reply to post by Crakeur

if you gave dolphins arms I'm guessing they'd spend the better part of their lives outsmarting us so they can slap us around for being so damned stupid.

Was I the only one reminded of The Simpsons?

CT

A great story that lifted by heart.

I have been very lucky to see whales and dolphins in their natural environment and they are amazing creatures with a great presence. I remember looking at a museum exhibit of different animal brains and they had the brain of a pilot whale and it was huge.

I’ve heard sonar can screw with cetaceans navigation abilities and could be a possible explanation for the beaching. Sometimes when there are mass beachings I think it may be suicide or something, maybe because of a lack of food. I think we would truly be surprised how intelligent whales and dolphins really are, and just like aliens from another planet they have evolved in a completely different world then we have, so how can we truly understand what goes on in those heads? If they evolve fingers and legs they might end up the dominant species.