153: dolphin rescues whales in New Zealand

Well, I've never seen anything quite like this! News emerged today of the rescue in New Zealand of two beached pygmy sperm whales - by a dolphin! Moko the dolphin is a regular on these particular beaches, often turning up to play with local swimmers. Unfortunately, this is also an area where whales beach themselves regularly. On this particular day, conservation officers had been trying to rescue the two whales - a mother and her calf - for more than 90 minutes, and they were about to give up. According to the video and article linked here, from TVNZ / CNN, Moko showed up at the proverbial eleventh hour, and within minutes had communicated with the whales (nobody is quite sure how) and they followed the dolphin out to sea. According to the NZ conservation officer involved, Malcolm Smith, this is the first such incident to be recorded anywhere in the world. Not that Moko was in any way overwhelmed by the unusual situation - she was back swimming on the beach with the locals later that afternoon... So nature amazes us once again... (Photo image from TVNZ footage.)