cetacean

Friday Rewind: The rise and fall of Alabamornis

laelaps — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:03:48 +0000

Friday Rewind: The rise and fall of Alabamornis

I feel like I have been run over by a truck. Between blogging, working on my book, fieldwork, pitching freelance articles, and research, I just didn't have the energy to come up with something new today. Instead enjoy this post, written a little more than a year ago, about how the hip of a fossil whale was mistaken for the shoulders of an ancient bird. -- Brian

The right hip of Basilosaurus as seen in Lucas' 1900 description.

If you were a 19th century paleontologist and you wanted a skeleton of the fossil whale Basilosaurus, there was only one place to look; Alabama. Even though fossils of the ancient cetacean had been found elsewhere, their bones were most abundant in this state, and naturalists such as S.B. Buckley, Albert Koch, and Richard Harlan based their descriptions of Basilosaurus on specimens from the Yellowhammer State. Unfortunately, however, most of the skeletons were fragmentary. Vertebrae were common, but parts of the rest of the skeleton were extremely rare.

Then, in 1896, the paleontologist Charles Schuchert made a discovery that was altogether unexpected. Associated with a chain of Basilosaurus vertebrae were a pair of what appeared to be hips, and these bones were described by Frederic Lucas in 1900. It was difficult to tell whether they had been attached to the spine or suspended in the flesh of the body as in living cetaceans, which do have vestiges of a pelvis and sometimes limbs in their bodies, but this was the first recorded discovery of Basilosaurus hips. (It would later be found that Basilosaurus still had small external hind limbs but the hips were fully detached from the spine.)

The fact that the sediment around the skeleton was little disturbed led Lucas to suggest that the hips had been found in approximately their natural position, but the Austrian paleontologist Othenio Abel disagreed. In 1906 Abel published the paper "Uber den als Beckengurtel von Zeuglodon beschriebenen Schultergurtel eines Vogels aus dem Eocan Alabama" in which he suggested that the "hips" were really part of the shoulder of an enormous Eocene bird. He named it Alabamornis gigantea and proposed it was related to the giant flightless birds of the time like Gastornis.

The shoulder girdle of "Alabamornis" as figured by Abel.

Lucas could not accept this, and just as he refuted Abel's hypothesis that Basilosaurus was covered in armor he wrote to the leading journals of the day to make sure "Alabamornis" did not gain a foothold. In a letter printed in Science in February of 1908, he stated that it was impossible for the bones to be a bird shoulder, or at least belong to any type of bird known to science. (Lucas had waited so long to reply to Abel because he did not have time to reexamine the material himself. Eventually he had to rely on notes from his colleague C.W. Gilmore to confirm what he remembered of the bones.)

The key to whether the bones were part of the hip or the shoulder was decided by the number of surfaces on the bones that articulated with other bones. As Lucas pointed out, both hip bones had only one articular surface; the acetabulum, or the socket that articulates with the femur. That an incomplete femur (figured below) was found near the bones strengthened this conclusion. In Abel's hypothesis, however, the bones would have articulated with both the upper arm bone and the clavicles, meaning that there should have been more than one articular surface. There was only one and it was clear that it held the femur, thus ruling out that the bones were part of the shoulder. If these were truly the shoulder bones of a bird, Lucas wrote, "they represent a type of shoulder girdle entirely different from any with which we are at present acquainted, and the bird from which they come not only belongs to a new species and genus, but to a new order or superorder."

Surprisingly, however, Lucas wrote the note to strike down the hypothesis that the bones were bird shoulders, not to confirm that they were whale hips. At the end of the letter he wrote;

Now, I will not insist that the bones under discussion represent the pelvis of [Basilosaurus] nor deny that they are the coracoids of a bird; I will simply say that it seems to me doubtful that this last ascription is correct and wait for further discoveries to throw more light on the problem.

At some point Lucas must have been able to see the bones again or began to feel more confident in his original interpretation, though. A note about Abel's paper that appeared in Nature in 1910 included the following disclaimer;

Dr. Lucas wishes to state that there is no doubt whatever as to the correctness of his original determination, and that the bones in question have been mounted in their proper position in the [Basilosaurus] skeleton which is now exhibited in the U.S. National Museum. 'Alabamornis' must accordingly be deleted from the list of fossil bird genera.

The paleontologist J.W. Gidley agreed with Lucas, as well. In a 1913 report on "A Recently Mounted Zeuglodon Skeleton in the United States National Museum" he defended Lucas' interpretation of the bones;

Abel, in an article published in 1906, contended that these bones were the corocoids of a large bird to which he gave the name Alabamornis gigantea. A careful restudy of these elements, however, leaves no doubt as to their mammalian characteristics and no reason to assume that they do not properly belong to the skeleton with which they were found associated. ... Not having the actual bones to examine Abel doubtless was led to a wrong interpretation of the plates published by Lucas, because they do not show very clearly the essential characters of the bones. This is due to the fact that the bone surfaces are pitted and roughened through imperfect preservation and the reproductions, which are from photographs, are perhaps somewhat confusing.

If Abel made any effort to defend his hypothesis about the bones I have found no reference to it. As quickly as it appeared "Alabamornis" vanished, a forgotten footnote in the greater debate over the characteristics and evolutionary place of Basilosaurus.

laelaps Fri, 04/30/2010 - 12:03

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history of science

mammals

paleontology

whales

Interesting - I had never heard of any of this. That's a pretty good argument for hands on paleontology, let alone for paleontologists to actually make it into the field to see the fossils firsthand in their context. Abel would not have come to that conclusion if he had seen the fossils during their excavation and position relative to the rest of the skeleton.

Then again, Abel made all sorts of bizarre hypotheses (without looking at any of the material firsthand), including the one that Desmostylus was a gigantic marine microtuberculate mammal.

... or multituberculate, even :)

Interestingly enough, Abel and Lucas faced off in the literature on another occasion over Basilosaurus. On the basis of some shell pieces associated with one skeleton of the whale, Abel thought that it was covered in a coat of armor, and Lucas refuted his argument in scientific correspondence. I am working on writing up these exchanges for a history of science journal right now and will mention it when (if?) they are published.

Hehe... microtuberculate... oops. Well, I had just woken up, and was rather groggy at the time.

Fossil foetus shows that early whales gave birth on land

edyong — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:42:43 +0000

Fossil foetus shows that early whales gave birth on land

Nine years ago, a team of fossil-hunters led by Philip Gingerich from the University of Michigan uncovered something amazing - the petrified remains of an ancient whale, but one unlike any that had been found before. Within the creature's abdomen lay a collection of similar but much smaller bones. They were the fossilised remains of a foetal whale, perfectly preserved within the belly of its mother. Gingerich says, "This is the 'Lucy' of whale evolution."

The creatures are new to science and Gingerich have called them Maiacetus inuus. The genus name is an amalgamation of the Greek words "maia" meaning "mother" and "ketos" meaning "whale", while Inuus, the Roman god of fertility, gave his name to the species.

The foetus's teeth were the first to be uncovered and only as the surrounding (and much larger) bones were revealed, did Gingerich realise what his team had found - the first ever foetal skeleton of an ~~ancestral~~ ancient whale (see video). Alongside the mother and calf, the group also discovered another fossil of the same species in even better condition. Its larger size and bigger teeth identified it as a male.

This trio of skeletons is so complete and well-preserved that Gingerich likens them to the Rosetta Stone. They provide an unparalleled glimpse at the lifestyle of an ancient whale before the group had made the permanent transition to the seas. How it gave birth, where it lived, how it competed for mates - all these aspects of its life are revealed by these beautiful new finds.

Maiacetuswasn't quite like the whales we know and love. It was an intermediate form between the group's earliest ancestors and the fully marine versions that swim about today. For a start, still had sturdy hind legs that were good for swimming but would have allowed it to walk on land.

Another piece of evidence tells us that Maiacetus was definitely amphibious - its foetus was facing backwards in the womb. If the mother had lived long enough to give birth (and judging by the foetus's size, that wasn't far off), the infant would have greeted the world face-first. No living whale or dolphin does that - all of their young emerge backwards, leading with their tails, to minimise the risk of drowning in the event of a prolonged labour. A head-first delivery means that Maiacetus gave birth as a landlubber.

Whales are so beautifully adapted to life in the water that their relationships to other mammals aren't immediately clear. Thankfully, their evolution has been beautifully charted by a series of "transitional fossils" documenting the change in their bodies over massive gulfs of time.

They evolved from deer-like ancestors, hoofed mammals that lived on land and occasionally ventured into the water. Early members of the family included Pakicetus, a meat-eater with long, hooved legs, a dog-like snout, and a distinctive inner ear that only whales and their kin possess. From there, the family became gradually more comfortable in the water, with later species like Ambulocetus having powerful tails and back legs that were clearly adapted for swimming.

These adaptations became even more extreme in the protocetids, a group that included species like Rodhocetus. They had seal-like bodies and possibly tail flukes like modern whale, but they still kept powerful hind legs to support their weight on land. Later whales like Basilosaurus or Dorudon were very different. Their hind legs were tiny - larger than those of modern whales, but useless for walking. Their hip bones were also disconnected from their spines. They were fully marine animals.

The newly discovered Maiacetus was a protocetid - several changes away from its original hooved ancestors, but not as thoroughly adapted of ocean life as Basilosaurus. Gingerich believes that it fed in the sea before coming ashore to rest, mate and give birth. Its teeth are suited for eating fish. Its legs were built to power swimming and support its weight on land, but they wouldn't have let it swim very far, or granted it with much terrestrial agility. These legs constrained the animal to the boundary between land and sea - jack-of-all-trades, but master of none.

The foetus was alone in the womb, which suggests that Maiacetus (like modern whales) devoted its energy to rearing a single infant during every found of breeding. As I've mentioned, the baby would have been delivered head-first while mum was safe on land. The foetus as large and its teeth were well-developed, with the growth of its permanent teeth already underway. Among mammals, advanced chompers like these are a sign that the calf would have emerged from the womb as a mobile and capable youngster - just as deer fawns can run soon after they're born.

The male skeleton was about 12% larger than the female and in the flesh, the animal would have weighed about 39% more. Compared to other marine mammals, this size difference between the two genders is actually relatively small. It suggests that males didn't have to compete too brutally for mates for those that do (like elephant seals) grow to enormous proportions that dwarf the fairer sex. These fighters hoard females in harems, and the fact that Maiacetus didn't suggests that it couldn't. Perhaps food and shelter were widely spread out commodities that were impossible to hoard and defend.

All in all, Gingerich's latest finds are among his most alluring yet. The remains of these three individuals have lasted through 48 million years of compression and today, they paint an incredibly vivid picture of the life of an ancient species. The fact that they are whales is the icing on the cake. This group's story is one of the most beautifully illustrated in the field evolution and every new discovery is a welcome one.

Reference: PLoS ONE Gingerich PD, ul-Haq M, von Koenigswald W, Sanders WJ, Smith BH, et al. (2009) New Protocetid Whale from the Middle Eocene of Pakistan: Birth on Land, Precocial Development, and Sexual Dimorphism. PLoS ONE 4(2): e4366. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004366

Update: For other accounts of this story, I'd highly recommend reading what Carl Zimmer (Loom) and Brian Switek (Laelaps) have to say on it. Both bloggers have written extensively on whale evolution before and I used their pieces as a lot of background reading for this story.

More on transitional fossils:

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edyong Tue, 02/03/2009 - 13:42

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Baby Beluga Loves Tongue Rubs

zooillogix — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:51:22 +0000

Baby Beluga Loves Tongue Rubs

One of the Vancouver Aquarium's resident belugas, Qila, gave birth to a healthy calf back in June. Now four months old, the calf is beginning to play with her trainers and especially enjoys tongue rubs, which the aquarium staff say is kind of like a massage... for your tongue...

From the video info section: "Look closely for her frilly tongue. It helps forms a tight seal while she's nursing. Beluga calves don't suckle; instead, the mother squirts milk into her calf's mouth.

The calf will have a name by the end of October. Her name will be chosen from entries to the Aquarium's Name the Baby Beluga contest. "

Thanks to Keely Prior for the tip!

zooillogix Wed, 10/15/2008 - 04:51

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Impressive Right Whale Photography

zooillogix — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:02:35 +0000

Impressive Right Whale Photography

Zooillogix has a lot of Belgian readers. This makes us uncomfortable. One such pale reader, Thomas Cordie, pointed us to some beautiful photos of right whales on National Geographic. Despite my temptation to just copy them all for you to enjoy, I'm posting one, and suggesting you take a look over there.

More NGC stuff below the fold:

A lion rides a horse in China for some reason.

Thanks goatrodeo.

zooillogix Fri, 10/03/2008 - 08:02

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That horse looks pleased about the situation.

And that photographer is Brian Skerry. He's an overseer at the New England Aquarium and a great friend of our right whale researchers that you have so aptly covered in the past!

There has got to be some "in China, take-out dinner takes you home" joke somewhere here...

What's so uncomfortable about having Belgian readers?

thanks it is

Stupid

I think that the horse likes getting all the attenion.

Just saw the news on BBC, the animals in the circus are abused, and they are beaten to do what they do and people show no sympathy when they see the animals being beaten during the show.

The horse is probably terrified, this is not entertainement, it's animal abuse. God damn Chinese people are the worst to animals.

The horse probably got scratched up from the lions claws, there maybe some padding on the horse's back, but still other areas are not protected. Also what do lions eat in the wild..? Zebras and what does the horse look like? Well.. Zebras are in the horse family.

This is disgusting.

that horse looks terrified its animal cruelty

What the shit.... Chinese people are the worst.

The horse looks absolutely terrified. The lion is also very heavy to carry for the horse (aprox. 200 kg)
This is definately animal abuse!

Dolphin Obesity: A Growing Problem

zooillogix — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:46:22 +0000

Dolphin Obesity: A Growing Problem

Aquarium staff at Kinosaki Marine World in western Japan recently noticed that their dolphins were less acrobatic in their performances and more lethargic in general. Concerned about their health, the dolphins were weighed and found to be significantly heavier since only a few months prior. Apparently a fattier mackeral, their typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner, was to blame. Aquarists quickly started calling the dolphins "fatty" and "fatty-fat-fat" and telling them no one would love them in an effort to get them to throw-up their meals after eating them. When that failed, they tried putting them on a diet and an increased exercise regimen, which appears to be working. This story was only worth posting because of these pics of fat dolphins I found:

I'm big boned!

A niche fetish within a niche fetish. We just made one total weirdos day.

Thanks to enterprise search guru Chris Cleveland for forwarding along.

zooillogix Tue, 09/30/2008 - 08:46

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Good god, that pic on the bottom is absolutely adorable. I don't know why he's out of the water though, that's a bit troubling.

"I won't be doing any tricks until the presence of cookies is established. No Oreo, no flip de flip.'

I assume the picture on the bottom is a small sculpture resting on a stump/brick. Dolphins can't support their own weight on a beach of sand, let alone on hard surfaces.

Sobex - Close. It's actually a real fat baby dolphin that has been frozen solid and put on a post to warn other dolphins from stealing my brother's popsicles!

Time to send Oprah's trainer to help. And maybe Dr. Phil too.

I blame global warming.

I knew it - manatees evolved from dolphins, in Southern US

The picture on top is fake. It's a manatee with a dolphin's head edited on it. The one on the bottom is stone.

Dolphins can't support their own weight on a beach of sand, let alone on hard surfaces.
It's actually a real fat baby dolphin that has been frozen solid and put on a post to warn other dolphins from stealing my brother's popsicles!

Lance held and instead supported the several peer-reviewed findings and the peer-accepted position I presented. (Both peer-accepted citings I refer to were two independent synthesis reports from the scientists studying beetle infestations in the Rockies, one of which was my source, the other linked to by Lance's article that validated my source and directly rebutted Lance's assertion.

Elbow Deep in Whale Poop!

bleimanb — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:55:18 +0000

Elbow Deep in Whale Poop!

Researchers at the New England Aquarium have stepped into a totally new method of studying Atlantic's threatened population of right whales - collecting and analyzing floating feces to test the population's health!

I didn't know whales ate corn!

Right whales got their name because they were the "right" whale to catch during whaling's hey day, when exterminating an entire species was jolly good form. Despite rigorous efforts to protect them against whaling interests, including Japanese "research" vessels, right whale populations have not increased noticeably in the last 65 years. In particular, right whales have been beset by...

...mystery illnesses which have correlated with reduced birth rates. Only a few years ago, scientists were confounded in their efforts to locate and diagnose the reclusive beasts.

Low and behold, a solution may have bubbled up to the surface - right whale poop floats and the New England Aquarium has "developed a novel method for locating and harvesting the feces in the ocean," which apparently involves "specially trained dogs," (Nope not kidding this time. We've asked our contacts at the aquarium to clarify how the dogs factor into this equation).

Thar' she blows!

As explained by the NEAQ: "...Our right whale researchers have collected hundreds of samples of whale feces since 2003. Laboratory tests performed on whale poop can reveal stress levels, parasites, illness and whether the whale had been exposed to biotoxins associated with red tides. We also run laboratory tests to determine whether a whale is sexually mature and if females are pregnant or nursing. This methodology has already been replicated by non-Aquarium researchers working with other animals." Finally, they "prepare the feces in three or four different recipes and just eat it for hours." (Last part may not be true).

This effort has provided an unprecedented window into the North Atlantic right whale population. Now that's dedication!

Special thanks to Jeff Ives of the NEAQ for bringing this explosive news to our attention. As he explained, "the biologists are up to their elbows in this stuff over here."

UPDATES from Jeff below:

The Aquarium only does whale feces research in the Bay of Fundy between Maine and New Brunswick. We do not do feces collection with right whales when they are in Massachusetts waters as the weather in the late winter and spring is not usually favorable. The whales are also much more dispersed when in Massachusetts waters than they are in the Bay of Fundy.

When they do use dogs, the dogs stay on the boat and indicate direction like a tracking device. They do not jump in the water and swim to the poop.

The dogs were used in previous seasons, but this year funding got tight, so they're searching for whale poop the old fashioned way--eyes, ears, nose. I spoke with one of the researchers, Jonathan, who says the current detection method consists of a spotter noticing some poop near the boat and yelling POOP! so they can net it as seen in the photo.

Now that's hi tech.

bleimanb Mon, 08/11/2008 - 10:55

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Laboratory tests performed on whale poop can reveal stress levels, parasites, illness and whether the whale had been exposed to biotoxins associated with red tides. We also run laboratory tests to determine whether a whale is sexually mature and if females are pregnant or nursing.

If they can tell all this from a single waterlogged turd, why does the fed need a warrantless wiretapping program? Why not just install pooper snoopers in everyone's sewer lines?

Explosive ... heh...

Anyway, as for your question: the dogs (small pic) do what they do best. Smell poop.

They are trained to sniff the ocean air for the pungent aroma of right whale feces. Then they indicate a heading to the captain and they track the whale waste to collection. However, I'm sad to inform that the dog training program ran out of research cash this year, so there are no dogs on the water with the current Lubec team.

Next year hopefully!

Warren, there are people who do work as 'pooper snoopers' in the sewer lines. There was coverage of it a few months ago in Popular Science?

[internet searching...and...found!]
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2008-02/your-sewer-drugs?page=5

It was Popular Science. These guys specialize in 'sewer epidemiology'. You can read more here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sewer23-2008jun23,0,3828587.sto…

...it's been thought of, and may become a big part of monitoring city drug use. A rather interesting idea, and a terrible day job I would think.

Keely - Did you have to be the one who drug us down to the sewer level?! ;)

"specially trained dogsfish,"

There fixed it for ya.

You can train dogfish?

Mine just ends up chasing the catfish.

Hi everyone! Here are some additional Update from NEAQ researchers:

Regarding the mysterious disease possibility: The reduction of right whale birthrates could have rooted from a number of different sources including reduction of food supply, exposure to biotoxins or other marine contaminants or a genetic defect caused by inbreeding. Disease, although most commonly used as the scapegoat for unexplainable occurrences, may not be the culprit in this cause.

Regarding Japanese whalers: Also, Japanese whalers are not a direct threat to the North Atlantic right whale. The right whale is protected through an international moratorium. Through the JARPN project researchers are only allowed to kill Sperm, Sei, Brydes and Minke whales.

Please don't let this comment thread die!

This thread is priceless! Clearly there's an emerging field in marine research that I'm dubbing Scatology at Sea, http://montereybayaquarium.typepad.com/sea_notes/.

The threat posed to sea otters by cat poop is another quick example: http://www-csgc.ucsd.edu/RESEARCH/PROJPROF_PDF/Conrad_CZ169.pdf.

There must be more.

This reminds me the research done on orangutans in Borneo - the ape group was sampled for urine over a period of many months, to see how the fruit availability and the seasonal chages in vegetation affected their diet. (The researchers could tell from the analysis if the orangutans were hungry because they had keto-metabolites in their urine, and stress-related hormons like cortisol spiked up if males competed with one another, etc.) A great published paper and a TV documentary too - but the field work included spreading out "raincoats" under the trees where the apes slept at night to collect and channel their urine. To observe with binoculars which ape is peeing where that night - and if he is male and how old is he, etc. Then packing up and moving the peed-over collectors to a new location in the evening, as chosen by the whim of those orangutans.

Now these are pretty smart apes - I wonder what they made of it - the crazy humans sneaking behind them everywhere and spreading their giant plastic urinals on the ground right at the same spot - as soon as the group found a nice quiet corner of the forest and hoped to get some sleep...

is it true that whale dong breathes and why and where can i find a picture

evden eve nakliyat

thanks

hidrolik

this is so awesome.

seasonal jobs apply free

Baby Beluga Born at Vancouver Aquarium

zooillogix — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:51:26 +0000

Baby Beluga Born at Vancouver Aquarium

This calf was born yesterday to Qila, who herself was born at the Vancouver Aquarium 12 years ago.

Special thanks to Vancouver Aquarium employee Keey Prior for bringing this to our attention.

zooillogix Wed, 06/11/2008 - 08:51

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Holy Cow!
what happens to the afterbirth (who gets to eat it)?

Aw. Thanks for putting it up guys. I'm honoured.

Calf and mom are still doing well. The calf is lively and floppy, and wrinkly & cute! Qila has successfully nursed the baby, though as she's a first time mom, it's all still quite awkward between the two of them. But they are adorable!

As for the afterbirth question...it's an odd one. As of last night the rumour was that she still hadn't passed it. And I imagine filters or something similar would take care of it.

That was pretty cool to see. It almost looked like the baby wasn't able to properly swim yet. Interesting stuff

Rare Pygmy Right Whale Dissected

bleimanb — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:48:31 +0000

Rare Pygmy Right Whale Dissected

This 6-month old pygmy right whale stranded itself on the beach in New Zealand. It is being dissected by a team of scientists as I write this! The whale has a similar head to true right whales, but scientists do not believe that they are closely related. In fact, they are not quite sure where these rare whales fit into the overall evolutionary tree. Hopefully this dissection will help them put some of the pieces in the puzzle.

You can watch along step by step, as these Museum of New Zealand researchers carve their way through this little guy on Te Papa's Blog.

bleimanb Wed, 05/07/2008 - 09:48

Tags

cetacean

pygmy right whale

whale

Holy blimey!

I'm going to have to ask some of my coworkers about this one.
This species is only found in the southern hemisphere, but still, a dissection of this caliber is going to draw northern right whale researchers' attention as well.

Normally all you need is a tissue sample for genetic testing to determine where it sits on the evolutionary tree. Maybe the focus should be on why this little whale got beached?

Thanks for this fascinating item! I'm currently reading "Your Inner Fish" by Neil Shubin which is riveting, so I'll be very interested to see just what the necropsy turns up.

that's an amazingly tiny baleen whale

Sleeping Whales

bleimanb — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:09:29 +0000

Sleeping Whales

A Japanese research vessel bonanza.

Note that there is no sound on this vid so as not to wake the whales...

bleimanb Wed, 03/12/2008 - 09:09

Tags

cetacean

whale

Ooooh! It's so cool to watch them in actual (in)action! Instead of just the dry science... ;-)

Dolphin Rescues Two Whales

bleimanb — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:30:59 +0000

Dolphin Rescues Two Whales

A mother and baby pygmy sperm whale in New Zealand appeared disoriented this week, repeatedly stranding themselves on a sandbar off of Mahia Beach. After multiple attempts by the locals to guide the whales back to sea failed, the human rescuers were starting to get worried. All of a sudden, a well known, local dolphin named Moko appeared and seemed to communicate with the whales. Before long, Moko was guiding the whales back to sea!

"The whales made contact with the dolphin and she basically escorted them about 200 metres parallel with the beach to the edge of the sandbar...Then she did a right-angle turn through quite a narrow channel and escorted them out to sea," said Malcolm Smith, a Conservation Department Officer who had been trying to save the whales before Moko showed up. Read more of his interview in this article on the AFP. Moko, a bottlenose dolphin, is already a minor celebrity at the beach, known for playing with swimmers and kayakers. Now, of course, her notoriety will surly surge.

Moko's selflessness and bravery put The Mahia Tourist Board forever in her debt. "We don't even need to show up to work anymore!" exclaimed a jubilant Assistant Director of Public Relations.

We're all familiar with stories of dolphins coming to humans' rescue, but this may be the first recorded incident of inter-species altruism between cetaceans. Either way, it would make a fantastic Animal Planet made-for-TV movie.

bleimanb Wed, 03/12/2008 - 04:30

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I remember hearing stories about a group of bottlenose dolphins "rescuing" stranded beaked whales in New Zealand in 1983 or '84, by surrounding them and herding them out to sea once humans got them in the water. I can't find any archived story about this online, though, possibly because I'm not looking in the right place.

This is a remarkable story about incredible animals. If you would like to discuss this further or share your thoughts on different topics regarding marine animals, check out: http://www.planetflipper.com today!