and a bit more....After an hour and a half of struggling in the cold ocean, Malcolm Smith was about to give up on trying to save two stranded pygmy sperm whales - then Moko the friendly dolphin showed up.
The young female bottle-nosed dolphin that has called Mahia Peninsula home for nearly a year somehow communicated with the distressed mother and calf and led them out to sea, said Mr Smith, field office supervisor at the Conservation Department's Wairoa office.
"She communicated in some way with the two whales, escorted them along the beach and a right-angle turn into the channel, and we haven't seen the whales since
Amazing, just incredible.Mr Smith said he was able to turn the 250-kilogram mother and a year-old calf around because they had a little water under them, but they appeared disoriented and kept coming back.
"There's a sandbar offshore and it was probably upsetting their sonar ... The whales were quite distressed and weren't going anywhere."
The whales were on the surface but, when Moko arrived to take charge, all three animals submerged and swam out to sea. "It was quite decisive, the change in their attitude."
Moko knew the area well as she often came inshore to play with boats, surfboards and swimmers, he said.
Link here (including a picture of dolphin): http://www.stuff.co.nz/4436754a6479.html
If I ever see a news link/video on the dolphin I'll
let you know.
