Dolphins save family from great white

Move over Rover, let Flipper take over. News from New Zealand suggests man's best friend is in fact the bottlenose dolphin.

It emerged yesterday that four swimmers were saved from a great white shark by a pod of altruistic dolphins, who swam in circles around them until the humans could escape.

Rob Howes, a British-born lifeguard, had gone swimming with his daughter, Niccy, and two of her friends off Ocean beach near Whangarei on the North Island, when the dolphins suddenly appeared. At first, he thought the mammals were being playful, but he soon realised the danger the swimmers were in.

"They started to herd us up, they pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us," Mr Howes told the New Zealand Press Association.

He tried to drift away from the group, but two of the bigger dolphins herded him back - just as he spotted a three-metre [10ft] great white shark heading towards him. "I just recoiled," he said. "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. They had corralled us up to protect us."

The dolphins kept their vigil for 40 minutes until the shark lost interest, and the group could swim 100m back to the shore.

Another lifeguard, Matt Fleet, on patrol in a lifeboat, saw the dolphins circling the swimmers and slapping their tails on the water to keep them in place. He told the Northern Advocate newspaper that he also had a clear sighting of the shark. "Some of the people later on the beach tried to tell me it was just another dolphin; but I knew what I saw," he said.

Although the incident happened on October 30, the swimmers have only just spoken of their rescue.
Ingrid Visser, of Orca Research, an environmental group, said the dolphins' behaviour was understandable, as they attack sharks to protect themselves and their young, and similar incidents had been reported round the world. "They could have sensed the danger to the swimmers, and taken action to protect them," she said.

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http://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/nov/24/internationalnews

Here is another story about HERO DOLPHINS!

Dolphins Save Swimmer From Becoming a Shark Snack






by Joan Reddy April 28, 2014
 
Categories: Animals, Causes.

It is amazing that for all the anguish and cruelty that humans bestow on dolphins, these cetaceans still find it in their hearts to help save humans in distress. Recently, a pod of ten dolphins came to the aid of a British long-distance swimmer, who may have been someone’s snack without their help.

Adam Walker was on a sixteen-mile marathon swim in the waters of New Zealand’s Cook Strait, when he noticed a six-foot great white shark swimming in the water beneath him. Within seconds the dolphins surrounded him and remained by his side. Even when the shark disappeared, the dolphins swam with Walker for more than an hour through the Cook Straits, from Wellington to Perano Head. Walker said that the dolphins swam so close that at one point he brushed one of their tails.

“I’d like to think they were protecting me and guiding me home. This swim will stay with me forever,” Walker said. “It would be nice to think the dolphins stayed with me and were thinking ‘We’ll just help our pal get through’,” the swimmer added.

If anyone was deserving of their help it was Walker, as he was swimming to raise proceeds for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, a nonprofit organization. Walker embarked on the Cook Strait swim as part of the Oceans Seven, a global challenge to complete seven long-distance swims. He crossed the Cook Strait in eight hours and thirty-six minutes.

Walker is already most of the way through the Oceans Seven challenge, having previously completed swims across the English Channel, Strait of Gibraltar, Molokai Channel, Catalina Channel and Tsugaru Channel. His final swim will be in August, when he will attempt to swim the North Channel, which separates Northern Ireland from Scotland.

It may be safe to say that there are eleven heroes in this story, and the dolphins sensed that the one who did not look like them was on their side.
Ohoto Credit: Facebook: courtesy of Adam Walker





http://www.ecorazzi.com/2014/04/28/watch-dolphins-save-swimmer-from-becoming-a-shark-snack/

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