Complex & Curious, Dolphins Have Been Rescuing Us For Centuries

Some years ago, a young man paddled on his ten foot long board off Virginia Beach in search of the perfect wave. It was such a calm day that after a while the surfer decided to stop paddling and just relax, allowing himself to fall asleep. When he woke up, the beach was nowhere to be seen. He had no idea how long he had been asleep or how far he had drifted. He was sure of only one thing: his chances of survival were slim.

Then he saw fins circling him in the water, and instantly recalculated his chances to zero. Sharks, he thought, and there were a bunch of them. But to his surprise, they weren't sharks, but a pod of porpoises. And they weren't there for a snack--they had come to help by pushing him back to shore.

The surfer? Dick Van Dyke, star of stage and screen. And while he might be the most famous person to be saved by dolphins, he certainly isn't the only one. The seagoing mammals have a long history of launching rescue missions, and not just for humans.

Mr. Van Dyke's story is remarkable, but it seems tame compared to other tales of dolphin altruism. In 2007 in California, a surfer was visciously attacked by a shark. Seriously injured and bleeding to death, he needed a miracle, and got one. Out of nowhere a group of dolphins circled him, forming an impenetrable ring and driving the shark away. In 2004, some swimmers in New Zealand noticed several bottlenose dolphins suddenly appear, acting strangely. It didn't take long before the swimmers realized the dolphins were trying to warn them about a Great White that was close to them. Then the dolphins did an amazing thing: they herded the people into a tight group, surrounded them and splashed the water until the shark left.

Even more remarkable is the fact that reports of dolphins saving people's lives go way back to ancient Greece. The poet Arion wrote the first such story about himself, and how he was able to escape from pirates by whistling a tune and attracting a dolphin who carried him to shore on its back. Odysseus, the Greek hero, worshipped dolphins and had them engraved on his shield as an homage to the one who reportedly saved his own son from drowning.

And tales like these do not stop with people. Dolphins are equal opportunity rescuers, known to come to the aid of whales. In 2008, a Pygmy sperm whale and her calf were disoriented and kept stranding themselves on a New Zealand beach despite the heroic efforts of biologists to save them. The scene was getting grim, and people were considering putting the whales down to end their suffering when a dolphin known by the locals as Moko showed up and actually talked to the whales. The dophin calmed the whales down, got them off the beach and led them out to the open sea.

Moko was quite a local celebrity at the coastal city of Gisborne, and was known to play with the people--sometimes a little too puckishly. Stories of her antics include stealing surfboards, overturning kayakers and bothering water skiers. She was also quite endearing, bringing fish to swimmers and allowing children to ride on her back. In July of 2010, Moko passed away. Over 400 people showed up to her funeral.

These stories give us just a small glimpse into the complex dolphin mind. No one knows yet why they help us, how they are able to sense when we are in danger and how they can communicate with other species like whales. But because of the dolphin we do know that love and kindness is universal.

sources: dailymail.co.uk, today.msnbc.msn.com, buzzle.com, hawaiidolphinretreat.com, csmonitor.com, dolphins-world.com, littletownmart.com photo: littletownmart.com

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