by Ben Holt
Saved at sea
On three separate occasions scientists onboard the Golden Fleece, in the seas near the Antarctic Peninsula, observed humpback whales protecting a seal that was being hunted by killer whales, with one instance of a humpback rolling a seal out of the water onto its chest and arching its back to lift it out of reach of the orcas. The scientists speculated that the menacing behaviour of the killer whales had triggered a protective maternal response in the humpbacks, causing them to act instinctively to counter the threat posed to a smaller animal – but we can never know for sure.
MOKO
A dolphin had an important role to play in a drama that unfolded off the coast of New Zealand…
In March 2008 in New Zealand, Department of Conservation worker Malcolm Smith was alerted by a local man that two pygmy sperm whales, a mother and her calf, had been stranded on Mahia Beach, about 300 miles north-east of Wellington on the east coast of the North Island. Around thirty whales are stranded on this stretch of coast annually and sadly most have to be killed. Knowing this, Malcolm rushed out with several volunteers to attempt to rescue the whales.
Down on the beach, the team kept the whales wet and worked for over an hour to refloat them so they could direct them back into open water, but they kept on getting stuck on a large sandbar just offshore. The whales were becoming increasingly disorientated and tired, and as he listened to their pitiful distress calls Malcolm began to think he might have to take the sad decision to put them both down, and save them from a long and painful death.
But just then someone else answered the whales’ calls. Splashing through the water came a dolphin, known by the locals as Moko. As soon as she arrived the whales resubmerged in the water, and Moko swam between the rescuers and the whales and began to lead them 200 yards along the beach, then out through a channel to the open sea.
In 30 years in his job, Malcolm had never seen anything like it. ‘The things that happen in nature never cease to amaze me,’ he marvelled. ‘I was not aware dolphins could communicate with pygmy sperm whales, but something happened that allowed Moko to guide those two whales to safety.’
After her emergency rescue work was done, Moko returned to the beach to play in the surf with the locals. Scientists believed she had become separated from her pod, and so had settled in the area, where she was well known and was often seen playing with swimmers, approaching boats to be patted, and pushing kayaks through the water with her snout.
Anton van Helden, a mammals expert at New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa, said it was the first time he had ever heard of ‘an inter-species refloating technique’.
A helping flipper
Dolphins also saved the day in September 1983 at Tokerau Beach, New Zealand, when a pod of 80 pilot whales were beached and left stranded by the ebbing tide. Local people waded out, talked soothingly to the whales and kept their skins wet. When the tide came back in they managed to refloat the whales and had turned them around in order to direct them to deeper waters when a school of dolphins swam into the shallows, surrounded the whales and guided them out to sea, saving 76 of the pilot whales’ lives.
ANIMALS IN THE LIMELIGHT
The online video-sharing community YouTube is a gold mine of animal clips – but it’s not just about talking dogs, sneezing pandas and dramatic gofers. Some of the most extraordinary footage of animals helping each other or displaying uncharacteristic behaviour towards other species has been captured – be it by professional wildlife journalists or on dad’s camcorder – and posted on the site. Visit www.youtube.com and type the key words highlighted in bold below into the search box to watch some truly impressive animal magic moments...
• HERO DOG SAVES DOG HIT BY CAR – a dog braves oncoming traffic to drag another dog that has been hit by a car off the highway. Fire fighters spot them and help, and the injured dog’s life is saved.
• DOG STOPS BULL FROM KILLING MAN – a man in a bullfighting ring has lost the upper hand and is on the ground being savaged by a bull. Out of nowhere comes a stray dog that terrorises the bull, distracting it so that the man can escape.
• HIPPO SAVES ANOTHER ANIMAL – a crocodile snatches a young impala drinking at the water’s edge and is dragging it under when a hippo charges over, frightens the croc off and drags the impala up onto the bank. It gently takes its head in its jaws, as if trying to revive it. Sadly the impala later dies and the croc returns to claim his meal.
• LEOPARD CUDDLES BABY BABOON – stunning National Geographic footage of a leopard that kills an adult female baboon, then realises that a live baby monkey is still attached to the dead mother’s back. The leopard protects the baby from an approaching hyena by taking it up a tree, then plays with it gently and licks it.
• LION ADOPTS A BABY ANTELOPE – a lioness cares for a baby antelope, normally a perfect snack for a hungry lion.
• BATTLE AT KRUGER – this incredible video has received over 60 million hits, and when you watch it you’ll know why. Lions take on a herd of buffalo at a watering hole, and a calf is separated and slips into the water. When the lions try to drag the calf out of the water a crocodile grabs it. Eventually the lions win the tug of war and are preparing to kill and eat the calf when the herd attacks the pride and the calf escapes.
WATER RESCUE
Although humans have crossed great oceans on ships, ridden massive waves on surfboards and swum the length of the world’s longest rivers, the water is not our natural domain, and the stories in this chapter give some measure of just how vulnerable we can be when you consider the many dangers of the watery world. Not surprisingly, this is where the dolphin has its day, with several stories about them coming to the rescue, whether defending humans from dangerous underwater predators, saving us from drowning or guiding us to safety. Other marine mammals are reported to have pitched in and lent a helping flipper, too. Dogs are known for their strong swimming ability and have been credited with many watery rescues – the dog that appears in this chapter set something of a record, and you will meet one rather more unexpected lifeguard that hails from the farmyard.
BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN POD
When Todd Endris set off one morning for a day’s surfing off the coast of California he had no idea of the danger that was waiting for him beneath the waves…
On a late August morning in 2007, surfer Todd Endris, aged 24 and the owner of Monterey Aquarium Services, headed into the waters of Marina State Park, off Monterey, California, with friends to catch some waves. Just before 11 a.m., Todd was sitting upright on his surfboard when a great white shark ‘came out of nowhere’. He estimated the shark was 12 to 15 feet in length which, given its terrifying surprise attack, just goes to show what efficient predators these huge animals are. Thankfully, it didn’t manage to get its enormous mouth around both him and the board.
Coming in for a second time, however, the shark clamped its jaws onto his torso, sandwiching the board and Todd in its mouth and literally peeling the skin off his back ‘like a banana peel’, as Todd later described it. Luckily, because his stomach was pressed against the surfboard, his intestines and internal organs were not damaged. Round three – and this time the shark latched on to Todd’s right leg. As the shark’s grip held him in place he kicked at its head and snout with his left leg until it let go. Now he was seriously weakened, bleeding profusely and far from the shore. If it wasn’t for what happened next, the shark would have certainly killed him.
A pod of bottlenose dolphins that had been playing in the surf a short distance away swam over to Todd and began to circle him, keeping the shark at bay. Within the safety of this protective ring he was able to summon the strength to clamber back on his board and ride a wave back onto the shore to safety.
There, he was administered first aid until a Medivac helicopter arrived to fly him to hospital. Blood pumped out of his right leg, which had been bitten to the bone, and it was probably the actions of the quick-thinking first aider that stopped him dying from further blood loss: the man, nam
ed Simpson, used his surf leash as a tourniquet to stem the blood flow. At the hospital, the surgeons had a big job on their hands, figuring out how to put Todd back together.
Just six weeks later, Todd was well enough to go surfing again – and he went back into the water at Marina State Park. It wasn’t easy, but he had to face his fears. As for the shark, it was protected within the marine wildlife refuge of the park, although Todd said he wouldn’t want the shark to be harmed in any way, ‘We’re in his realm, not the other way around,’ he said. Nearly four months later he was still undergoing physical therapy to repair his muscle tissues, and in an interview with Today’s Natalie Morales he said that the dolphins’ rescue was ‘truly a miracle’.
PELORUS JACK
A Risso’s dolphin dubbed Pelorus Jack became famous for escorting ships safely through the dangerous waters of French Pass in the Cook Strait, New Zealand…
The Risso’s dolphin that came to be known as Pelorus Jack was first seen in 1888 when he appeared in front of the schooner Brindle in the waters near French Pass. This treacherous channel, used by boats travelling between Wellington and Nelson, is situated between D’Urville Island and the South Island, and has claimed many shipwrecks over the years due to the rocks and strong currents. Between 1888 and 1912, Pelorus Jack continued to guide boats safely through the area – no boat that he accompanied was ever shipwrecked. He would guide ships by swimming alongside them for 20 minutes at a time and, if a crew could not see Jack before they entered the channel, they would often wait for him to appear.
The dolphin was usually spotted in Admiralty Bay, between Cape Francis and Collinet Point, near French Pass, and despite his name was not a resident of Pelorus Sound. He was around 13 feet long, white in colour with grey lines, and had a round, white head. The Risso’s dolphin is uncommon in New Zealand’s waters, and only 12 Risso’s dolphins have ever been recorded in the area Jack used to frequent. Pelorus Jack was sighted by many sailors and travellers over the years, and he was mentioned in local newspapers and depicted in postcards.
In 1904, a passenger aboard the SS Penguin shot at Pelorus Jack with a rifle. But, in spite of this attempt on his life, Pelorus Jack continued to guide ships, although the story goes that he would no longer guide the Penguin after this incident – and it was shipwrecked in 1909. Following the shooting, Pelorus Jack became protected by Order in Council under the Sea Fisheries Act on 26 September 1904, and it is believed he was the first individual sea creature to be protected by law in any country.
The famous dolphin was last sighted in April 1912. Some feared foreign whalers had harpooned him, but (as his pale body colouring indicated) he was an old animal and it is more likely he died of natural causes. In any case, his story has stood the test of time, and since 1989 his image has been used as a logo by the Interislander ferry service that regularly crosses the Cook Strait.
POD OF DOLPHINS
A group of lifeguards on a training swim off the coast of New Zealand had an unusual interruption to their lesson…
On 30 October 2004, lifeguard Rob Howes accompanied three female lifeguards on a training swim about 300 feet off Ocean Beach, near Whangarei on the North Island of New Zealand.
As they were swimming the group noticed a pod of dolphins approaching quite quickly. The pod began to circle the swimmers closely, keeping a distance of only 2–4 inches and bunching the four of them together. They kept doing this for around 40 minutes, slapping the water with their tails vigorously.
Howes felt a little unnerved by the speed of their approach and their behaviour, and wondered if it was a group of aggressive males, or perhaps female dolphins trying to protect their young.
At one point there was an opening in the ring, and Howes drifted away from the others – which was when he saw a great white shark only 6 feet away. Howes remembered there had been a number of sightings in the area around that time of year, as they came into the harbour to give birth.
As the shark started to swim towards the other swimmers, he watched the dolphins become even more frantic. He later said: ‘I would suggest they were creating a confusion screen around the girls. It was just a mass of fins, backs and human heads.’ A rescue boat eventually arrived, at which point the shark swam away, but the pod of dolphins stuck close to the group as they swam back to shore.
MILA
In 2009, a girl who was free-diving in an arctic pool found her leg clamped in the beak of a beluga whale…
Athlete Yang Yun was taking part in a competition at Polarland, a huge polar-themed aquarium in Harbin, a city in northeast China. Contestants had to free-dive to the bottom of a 20-foot Arctic pool that was home to the attraction’s beluga whales – and stay down as long as possible. But due to the freezing temperature of the water in the pool, the 26-year-old’s legs began to cramp, leaving her immobilised in the water and unable to surface for air. At such depths, water pressure will keep a body underwater, especially if the person is unable to move and push themselves upwards.
Luckily for the girl, a beluga whale named Mila sensed her distress and, taking her leg in its beak, pushed her up towards the surface. As belugas feed only on small fish and squid they do not have large teeth, so the girl was unharmed. Speaking of the frightening experience, the diver said: ‘I began to choke and sank even lower, and I thought that was it for me – I was dead. Until I felt this incredible force under me driving me to the surface.’
An official at Polarland said Mila had spotted the girl was in trouble before anyone else did, and described her as a sensitive animal who works closely with humans. Belugas are intelligent creatures, and have facial muscles that allow them to form expressions that look like very real smiles. Almost certainly, Yang Yun owed the beluga her life.
PRISCILLA
You might be more familiar with the image of a pig wallowing in the mud than splashing through open water, but one pig proved to be a particularly strong swimmer…
Victoria Herberta was the proud owner of Priscilla, a pig that used to follow her around on a lead like a pet dog. One day in 1984, Priscilla’s owner took her out for the day to meet friends at a lake in the Houston area of Texas. The three-month-old pig, wearing her purple harness and lead as always, decided to have a dip in the water.
Among other visitors to the lake that day was 11-year-old Anthony Melton. He was wading out into the lake when he lost his footing on a drop-off ledge and plunged into deeper water. Unable to swim, he began to struggle and panic. Seeing Priscilla swimming nearby, Anthony’s mother shouted to her son to reach out and grab the pig’s lead. The boy did – and then the pair disappeared beneath the water. For a few terrifying moments there was no sign of them, until they resurfaced and the 45-pound pig struck out for the shore, towing the boy, who was twice her own body weight, for more than 150 feet.
After her heroic feat that day, Priscilla became the first member of the Texas Animal Hall of Fame and was declared a local heroine. She made appearances on television, and was chauffeured to the University of Illinois to open the International Belly Flop Contest. She was also honoured with the American Humane Society’s prestigious Stillman Award, named after Dr William O. Stillman, who was known for his efforts to protect animals from cruelty.
SWANSEA JACK
The black Labrador retriever dubbed ‘Swansea Jack’ made as many as 27 watery rescues during his short life in the 1930s…
Jack lived with his owner William Thomas at Padley’s Yard, Wales, on the western bank of the River Tawe – an area that was made derelict after Swansea’s shipping industry shifted to the eastern side of the river.
In 1931, aged just one, the Labrador retriever made his first heroic rescue when a 12-year-old boy, who was playing on the wharf, fell into the water. As a puppy, Jack had always been frightened of deep water (perhaps explaining why he was so watchful of humans in the water), but as soon as he saw the boy was in trouble he jumped in and dragged him back to the shallows, where the boy struggled ashore. Despite his timely action, Jack�
�s bravery was not reported at the time.
Several weeks later, Jack performed a second successful rescue by saving a flagging swimmer from the nearby waters of North Dock. This time his actions attracted a small crowd, and his photo and an account of the rescue were printed in the local newspaper. He was awarded a silver collar by the city council for his efforts, and sprang to fame as a local hero.
By the age of five, Jack had made so many rescues that he was featured in the national newspapers. He won numerous medals for his service to humans, including two bronze stars from the National Canine Defence League, the Bravest Dog of the Year award from both the Daily Star newspaper and the Daily Mirror in 1936, and the Bravest Dog category at Crufts. He was taken on a nationwide tour and was presented with a silver cup by the Lord Mayor of London. Later, Jack also helped to raise substantial amounts of money for charitable causes, when his owner permitted the famous and wealthy to be photographed with him.
Sadly, on 2 October 1937, aged just seven, Jack died after accidentally eating rat poison. A memorial to this charismatic and courageous canine was erected near his favourite swimming spot on the promenade in Swansea, near St Helens Rugby Ground. It can still be visited today.
SEAL
Humans aren’t the only type of mammal to have needed rescuing in the water. Although most dogs are strong swimmers, one injured canine found itself in trouble in strong currents in the River Tees…
Chris Hinds was out walking his dogs with his 18-year-old son, Raymond, near Newport Bridge in Middlesbrough, at around six o’clock one evening, when he saw an injured dog on the bank of the River Tees. The Labrador-German shepherd cross had a cut on its head, but when Hinds reached towards the animal it flinched and plunged into the river, where it was swept away by the strong current.
