NZ: Dolphins protect humans....

[Dr Mordrid]

from a great white shark;

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3106501a10,00.html

Not really a new thing given there have been reports of this kind of thing going back to the classical Greece, but still neat.

Dr. Mordrid

[Guru]

And most likley they thought he was another dolphin!

[Lizzard[MPE]]

i love those kind of stories

[Wombat]

Originally posted by Guru
And most likley they thought he was another dolphin!

I think you greatly underestimate the intelligence of dolphins.

[Marshmallowman]

and the excellent imaging capability of their sonar.

[ZokesPro]

Mr Howes tried to drift away from the group, but two of the bigger dolphins herded him back.

When he saw the shark, Mr Howes realised what the dolphins were doing.

Dolphins are cool, always wanted to touch one.!

[Jessterw]

Dolphins are a sort of natural enemy for sharks (and vice-versa), but make no mistake that wild dolphins can be equally as aggressive against humans if they fear any sort of threat. I've seen them ram boats a few times, which is a slightly disturbing sight.

Of course this does not discount the natural instinct they seem to posess in terms of protecting other species (namely humans).

[Dr Mordrid]

ZokesPro;

They feel like a very smooth wet leather or vinyl. The one I had a chance to "encounter" actually pressed up into my hand during the contact. After a minute or so of this it scooted a few yards away then did a slow turn, came back and continued the interaction.

When you look into their eyes during such an encounter you first notice they have no iris and it looks a little like a fish eye, but still you definitely get the feeling somethings going on behind them. This can be disconcerting at first, but only for a bit.

All in all it was a total hoot.

Dr. Mordrid

[Helevitia]

I was fortunate enough to touch a Dolphin last week in Hawaii. My buddy Rich, took us to this Hotel where your balcony overlooks the dolphin swimming area. We were just going to watch the feeding.

It just so happened that Rich knew one of the workers there and they hadn't seen eachother in almost 8 years. She asked Rich if he wanted to swim with the Dolphins and asked us if we wanted to feed and touch them. Here are the pics:

[Helevitia]

My family

[Helevitia]

The balconies overlooking the Dolphin pool

[Helevitia]

btw, as soon as you see dolphins that close you get an overwhelming sense of greatness and you feel good all over like everything is gonna be OK. My buddy Rich and my family all said the same thing. You just feel less stressed.

To me, they felt like a tire with a little bit of tread, but much smoother.

[ZokesPro]

@Dr. Mordrid & Helevitia: Wow that's cool. From what you both say, seems like you can easily feel what they feel, and I imagine that dolphins don't lead a very stressful life either.

And although you've both described the feeling of their skin, I still wanna find out for myself though. Man, you guys are so lucky.

Nice pics btw.

[Brian Ellis]

On the other side of the coin, I saw a BBC documentary last Friday which really depressed me. It was a reportage about a village in Japan which lives from dolphin hunting. Every year, the villagers herd up to 20,000 dolphins into a bay, with boats and nets. Most of them are simply butchered, but it may take days of waiting for some of the dolphins, while they watch their cousins being slaughtered and cut up. As they are intelligent beasts, there can be little doubt they know they are in death row.

A small number of them (a few hundred per year) are captured to supply dolphinariums. The "fish"ermen are paid about $500 per beast, while the intermediaries charge up to $20,000 each. Apparently, Japan has many dolphinariums that are very popular and all the Japanese ones are supplied from this culling. Worse, one of the main intermediaries is a guy living in the Philippines and he supplies dolphins worldwide. The person who exposed this horror was a leading dolphin trainer who has worked for the major Hollywood studios; he is now an anti-dolphin-exploitation activist.

Many of the dolphins in captivity live a miserable existence and they are prone to many diseases resulting from their confinement.

I feel very sorry for the fate of these magnificent creatures at the hands of man.

Sorry to put a damper on this thread.

[Lizzard[MPE]]

well that was depressing.