A Heart Warming Tale
Once in a while a piece of news is broadcast that casts a warm glow and the 12th March saw just such a snippet regarding conservationists in New Zealand.
Two pygmy sperm whales had beached themselves and no matter how hard everyone tried, on the beach they were determined to stay. Along to the rescue of these two lost mammals came a bottlenose dolphin affectionately called Moko. Moko achieved in minutes what everyone else failed to do. It swam towards the whales and after a brief inter-species chat led the stranded whales back out to sea and safety.
You can read the whole story here
Bottlenose dolphins are ranked amongst the most intelligent of marine mammals, sociable and family orientated, they remain a popular choice for us humans wishing to swim closer to nature. Unfortunately, their trusting nature also means that these dolphins often get caught up in the nets of the world's fishing fraternity in their hunt for tuna.
The bottlenose is also the dolphin we invariably see in aquatic displays. Trained to take fish from its keeper as it leaps towards the top of a ladder, it is always hard working and anxious to please. I read recently that it can take over a year to retrain a dolphin to use its sonar system after living and working in one of these 'zoos'. The dolphin sonar system is a highly developed instrument for use in underwater environments where visual sight is limited. Without this ability a dolphin would not survive long. The dangers of keeping dolphins in these sea parks was high-lighted in 2005 in America.
When hurricane Katrina swept across Gulfport it destroyed the Oceanarium. 8 performing dolphins were swept out to sea in the storm surge and after several days were found only 100 yards out to sea, starving and unable to care for themselves. (Dolphin story) The comments of a marine biologist from the National Marine Fisheries Service sums up for me, why these wonderful creatures should not be kept in captivity. "More than likely," he said, "they have lost all their hunting and social skills. The biggest thing is we're trying to get some food in them to build up their strength before trying to capture them again."
Two pygmy sperm whales had beached themselves and no matter how hard everyone tried, on the beach they were determined to stay. Along to the rescue of these two lost mammals came a bottlenose dolphin affectionately called Moko. Moko achieved in minutes what everyone else failed to do. It swam towards the whales and after a brief inter-species chat led the stranded whales back out to sea and safety.
You can read the whole story here
Bottlenose dolphins are ranked amongst the most intelligent of marine mammals, sociable and family orientated, they remain a popular choice for us humans wishing to swim closer to nature. Unfortunately, their trusting nature also means that these dolphins often get caught up in the nets of the world's fishing fraternity in their hunt for tuna.
The bottlenose is also the dolphin we invariably see in aquatic displays. Trained to take fish from its keeper as it leaps towards the top of a ladder, it is always hard working and anxious to please. I read recently that it can take over a year to retrain a dolphin to use its sonar system after living and working in one of these 'zoos'. The dolphin sonar system is a highly developed instrument for use in underwater environments where visual sight is limited. Without this ability a dolphin would not survive long. The dangers of keeping dolphins in these sea parks was high-lighted in 2005 in America.
When hurricane Katrina swept across Gulfport it destroyed the Oceanarium. 8 performing dolphins were swept out to sea in the storm surge and after several days were found only 100 yards out to sea, starving and unable to care for themselves. (Dolphin story) The comments of a marine biologist from the National Marine Fisheries Service sums up for me, why these wonderful creatures should not be kept in captivity. "More than likely," he said, "they have lost all their hunting and social skills. The biggest thing is we're trying to get some food in them to build up their strength before trying to capture them again."
posted by Anonymous at 3/12/2008 09:16:00 pm
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