Dolphins are cool

[Mephisto2]

This is a pretty cool story.

Dolphins protect swimmers from great white shark
November 23, 2004 - 10:42AM

A group of swimmers has told how a pod of dolphins protected them from a great white shark off the north-eastern coast of New Zealand.

Rob Howes and three other lifeguards were on a training swim about 100 metres offshore at Ocean Beach near Whangarei when the dolphins raced in and herded the group together.

"They started to herd us up, they pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us," Howe said.

When he tried to drift away from the group, two of the bigger dolphins herded him back.

He then saw why. A three metre great white shark was cruising toward the group about two metres below the surface.

"I just recoiled. It was only about two metres away from me, the water was crystal clear and it was as clear as the nose on my face," he said, adding he then realised the dolphins had moved in to protect the swimmers.

The group were surrounded by the dolphins for 40 minutes before they were able to reach the shore.

Another lifeguard, Matt Fleet, was patrolling nearby in a rescue boat when he saw the dolphins' unusual behaviour.

When he dived out of the boat to join the group he also saw the great white.

Fleet said he was keen to get out of the water after the sighting, but didn't panic.

"I just kept looking around to see where it was."

The incident happened about three weeks ago, but Howes and Fleet said they had kept the story to themselves until they had a chance to catch up and confirm what they had seen.

Auckland University marine mammal research scientist Doctor Rochelle Constantine said dolphins were normally vigilant in the presence of sharks.

The altruistic response of the dolphins was normal, she said.

"They like to help the helpless."

AFP

REF: http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Dol...972363424.html


I've heard of many similiar cases, including dolphins actually saving people from drowning. Pretty amazing really...


Mr Mephisto

[tecoyah]

Incredible.....still hungry for that Tuna?

[drawerfixer]

An absolutely great story. I've read numerous accounts, it seems, of dolphins helping helpless swimmers/boaters from a variety of distresses. Each one amazes me.

Although I hate to bring politics into this thread, here is a link (posted as an ad-thingy on DailyKos ) on dolphin protection. Read at your own leisure.

Dolphin Protection

[KellyC]

That is super cool. Dolphins are always one of my favorite animals, this just makes me like those creatures even more.

[narf!]

I got bitten by one of those buggers. Dolphins, soothing? Heck no

[Journeyman]

I sort of didn't care one way or the other before, but that story just gave me a big boost in respect for dolphins.

[Seaver]

I remember swimming on the coast of California, Point Loma San Diego. Saw a great white in teh tides, though a wave... suddenly a dolphin rammed it. Launched it up through the water, and ran it into the rocks.

Dolphins kick ass.

[cait987]

dolphins are funny lol, my family used to go on a pretty decent size boat off the coast of california and dolphins would follow the boat for hours.

We would throw little crackers and stuff over and the dolphins would stop, look at them, and start chasing our boat again lol.

They really do lose their "cool" factor after a while since they all tend to act the same but they have been known to do some crazy shit.

[guthmund]

A friend of mine's father used to work for Sea World down in Texas.

He always said that when you die, if you did alright you get to come back and try again. If you were exceptional you get to come back as a dolphin.

Take that for what it's worth, eh?

Hell of a story. Thanks, Mr. M

[Blackthorn]

That is a CRAZY, fabulous, and unbelievable story!!! One of my neices just went through a Dolphin camp near Orlando where she was able to swim and have regular interactions with these mammals and it was for her a life changing experience. She’s a super smart kid and is now committed to pursuing a career in marine biology.

Great find Mr. M….

[Mephisto2]

Originally Posted by kjroh

That is a CRAZY, fabulous, and unbelievable story!!! One of my neices just went through a Dolphin camp near Orlando where she was able to swim and have regular interactions with these mammals and it was for her a life changing experience. She’s a super smart kid and is now committed to pursuing a career in marine biology.

There's actually a therapy for sick (terminal?) children like this. They are offered the chance to swim and interact with dolphins. By all accounts it's a very moving experience.


Mr Mephisto

[inharmony]

Amazing creatures to say the least.

[Janey]

Originally Posted by tecoyah

Incredible.....still hungry for that Tuna?

tuna? mmmm. I hope you aren't thinking that canned tuna is made out of dophin meat. I do know that some unsavoury fishing methods will catch dolphins in the nets intended for tuna. I thought that these were illegal. I hope so!

I always thought that dolphins were sentient. the fact that they will take out a great white, but treat humans gently shows a some type of consideration on their part...

[MSD]

Originally Posted by Janey

tuna? mmmm. I hope you aren't thinking that canned tuna is made out of dophin meat. I do know that some unsavoury fishing methods will catch dolphins in the nets intended for tuna. I thought that these were illegal. I hope so!

Not even close. In some parts of the world, the WTO has ruled against US regulations requiring that fishermen use dolphin-safe nets.

[Shirtninja]

That is incredible. Why they would be willing to protect some unknown creature from something they probably know as a threat is amazing to me, but very cool.

[Janey]

Originally Posted by MrSelfDestruct

Not even close. In some parts of the world, the WTO has ruled against US regulations requiring that fishermen use dolphin-safe nets.

are you serious? the WTO? isn't that outfit run by the US anyways?? Or at least by the Rockefellers...

[Mephisto2]

Tuna fishing, especially by Japan and the US, kills thousands of dolphins each year. Dolphins are also targeted directly in some wholesale (and very disturbing) fishing practices by the Japanese.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...fic/974656.stm
http://www.pbs.org/odyssey/odyssey/2...ranscript.html
http://www.bluevoice.org/dolphin/incite.html


Sad really... If people can get into such a tizzy over feckin' dogs and cats, you would think the same would occur for far more intelligent animals like dolphins.

And don't even get me started on the treatment of the Great Apes.

GRRRRR....


Mr Mephisto

[Shpoop]

thats awesome.
the method described is also their method of predation, hearding schools of sardines into a circle and then going in. good thing thats not what they were doing

kinda reminds me of a simpson episode...if dolphins all of a sudden didnt like us, we would be screwed.

[hiro-acid]

are you serious? the WTO? isn't that outfit run by the US anyways?? Or at least by the Rockefellers...

I'd suggest you do some reading. The WTO is an autonomous organization with no allegiance to any state or individual. Their interests are the corporatization of the planet and the centralization of wealth and power within the corporate sphere of influence (obviously this must be achieved by taking it away from the private citizen and state).

And their record on protecting the environment, particular marine life such as the dolphin, is atrocious. What is important to understand in all things related to the WTO is that it acts to "prohibit discrimination between 'like products' on the basis of where they are produced and to also forbid discrimination between products based on how they are produced (Who's Trade Organization, p. 28, emphasis in original).

This means it is, in the WTO's eyes, discriminatory to enact laws which may attempt to prohibit the importantion of goods produced by means we might find abhorrant, environmentally damaging, or otherwise unethical, because it would be a barrier to free enterprise. So banning the importantion of seafood caught with devices such as purse seines, the large nets used to literally sweep the ocean clean of all marine life they can ensnare, is an unfair and discriminatory policy, and the US was forced to make such drastic concessions to it's domestic policy in this regard that the label of "Dolphin-Safe Tuna" is a complete misnomer and means nothing.. yep, enjoy your lunch.. tasty mammal isn't it?

For more information on a highly engaging but rather accademic book (meaning it's got big words and not designed to be an easy reader) on the WTO check this link: http://www.citizen.org/publications/release.cfm?ID=7304

And you thought Bill Clinton was a Democrat? I believe history will regard him as one of the craftiest Republicans of the 20th century, for his record in relation to the implementation of the WTO shows his concerns were not with the citizens of his country, but with his corporate friends. Mmmm, sorry, troll mode off..

I still love tuna tho.. =(

[Zeraph]

And what if those dolphins were protecting the great white instead of people?

That said, dolphins kick ass.

[thingstodo]

Dolphins are simply amazing animals. I can watch them for hours. We rode a small boat from Ft. Lauderdale to below Miami one time and had a group with us for over two hours. They even came up to the boat.

[Stiltzkin]

If someone ever tells me that they've tasted Dolphin meat, I'll punch them square in the nose. Mark my words.

[Seaver]

And what if those dolphins were protecting the great white instead of people?

Ask anyone who has ever interacted with dolphins. They absolutely HATE sharks, and will attack them on sight.

[BEG4MERCY]

yes, like seaver said, dolphins loathe sharks

was an unreal story when i heard it on the news down here, absolutely crazy!

[tecoyah]

This just pisses me off:




ALEX MITA

POACHERS in New Zealand may have killed two members of a pod of dolphins that recently saved the lives of swimmers from a great white shark attack, lifeguards said yesterday.

The mutilated carcasses of the two bottlenose dolphins were found on Wednesday in the Awaroa River, which branches off the upper reaches of Whangarei Harbour on North Island’s east coast.

Staff from New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DOC) believe the dolphins died about two weeks ago after drowning in fishing nets set out by criminals poaching fish. DOC officer Richard Parrish said their tails had been hacked off, probably to free them from the net.

Three weeks ago, seven dolphins protected Ocean Beach lifeguard Rob Howes, 45, his 15-year-old daughter Nicky, 16-year-old lifeguard trainee Helen Slade, and Karina Cooper, 15, from the jaws of a great white shark at Ocean Beach, Whangarei Heads.

The protective dolphins have been hailed as the humans’ saviours after the incident was reported this week.

Mr Howes was on a training swim with the teenagers to mark Helen's first day as a lifeguard.

The group was 100 metres from the beach when around seven agitated dolphins appeared. The pod formed a protective shield around the swimmers and even herded Mr Howes back when he tried to swim away.

The girls thought the dolphins were playing as they swam round them in tight circles, thrashing their tails, but Mr Howes finally spotted the outline of a 10ft great white. The dolphins warded off the shark for 45 minutes and only when it moved off did they allow the swimmers to head for the shore.

The discovery of the dead dolphins has outraged the local community and shocked Mr Howes and Miss Slade, who feared the two mammals may have been a part of the pod that saved them.

An angry Mr Howes said whoever mutilated the dolphins should be castrated.

"In light of what has happened at Ocean Beach I would give them a taste of their own medicine," he said. "This is how we repay them for their help?"

He said setting illegal nets where dolphins could get tangled up in them amounted to "indiscriminate murder," and added that the discovery would put a lot of fishermen under pressure.

"There will be a public outcry against the use of nets," he said.

Miss Slade said she was disgusted to hear what had happened to the dolphins.

"Why would they do such a thing?" she asked.

Fishing with illegal nets, failing to report finding a dolphin in a net, and mutilating a marine mammal are all offences carrying a maximum 10,000 New Zealand dollars fine.

Bay Of Islands SPCA inspector Jim Boyd said fishermen needed to change their habits and not set nets where dolphins could be caught.

"(Dolphins) drown in the nets because they cannot get to the surface for air," he said.

Mr Boyd called on the Government to impose legislation to protect the dolphins.

"If (illegal netting) doesn't stop then dolphins will become extinct," he said.

"That would be a sad indictment on society that we cannot look after a creature as special as this.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1362192004

[hunnychile]

Dolphin family pod activity occurs such as, if a mama dophin is sick or unfortunately dies, the "Aunts" in the Pod take over the care of the baby dolphin. They are such beautiful magical creatures! We are so lucky that they still exist.

Ever watch the movie, "Day of the Dolphins"? It's pretty interesting and based on a true story. Dolphins do have a language all their own.

[Janey]

Originally Posted by hiro-acid

I'd suggest you do some reading. The WTO is an autonomous organization with no allegiance to any state or individual. Their interests are the corporatization of the planet and the centralization of wealth and power within the corporate sphere of influence (obviously this must be achieved by taking it away from the private citizen and state).

I still love tuna tho.. =(

I like tuna too. especially raw. But thanks for the lucid description of the organizations/motivations involved. I couldn't have prepared a better post myself. Gotta love how my trite sounding post managed to get it out there in the end eh?