Smith said Moko arrived on the scene and he could hear the whales and the dolphin making noises, apparently to one another. "The whales made contact with the dolphin and she basically escorted them about 200 yards parallel with the beach to the edge of the sandbar. "Then she did a right-angle turn through quite a narrow channel and escorted them out to sea. "There's been no sign of the whales since Monday, they haven't re-stranded." "What the communication was I do not know, and I was not aware dolphins could communicate with pygmy sperm whales, but something happened that allowed Moko to guide those two whales to safety." Moko has become famous for her antics at Mahia, which include playing in the surf with swimmers, approaching boats to be patted and pushing kayaks through the water with her snout. Such close interaction with humans is rare among dolphins but not unknown. "She's become isolated from her pod obviously for one reason or another, but obviously made Mahia home just at the moment." Mahia gets up to 30 whale strandings a year, most of which end with the whales having to be put down. "I don't know if next time we have a whale stranding we can get her to come in again. She certainly saved the day for us and the whales this time."
Jennifer Viegas' blog: Born Animal |
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