Dolphin saves two beached whales
I'm dumbfounded and heartened by this story. I work on the assumption that naval sonar is the cause of at least some whale beachings. That a helpful dolphin could clean up the mess in this case just makes me wish I was 1/64 dolphin.
The pygmy sperm whales had repeatedly beached, and both they and the humans were tired and set to give up, he said.
But then the dolphin appeared, communicated with the whales, and led them to safety....
"I don't speak whale and I don't speak dolphin," Mr Smith told the BBC, "but there was obviously something that went on because the two whales changed their attitude from being quite distressed to following the dolphin quite willingly and directly along the beach and straight out to sea."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7291501.stm
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March 12, 2008
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Comments
Insightful
March 14, 2008 by Anonymous, 1 year 16 weeks ago
Comment id: 28122
Certainly. It's a great story. I'm pleased to see research moving away from human-centered approaches to considerations of intelligence. Opposable thumbs are ideal for manipulating tools \ environment and the whole of our beings are geared towards that end. Human intelligence.
Dolphins have different abilities and different intelligence. Dolphin intelligence.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
Good Behavior
March 14, 2008 by Joseph Meisenhelder, 1 year 16 weeks ago
Comment id: 28120
Sometimes it seems dolphins and whales are the most intelligent life on the planet.
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