Dolphins

Moko the dolphin

A dolphin called Moko has become a worldwide hero after saving the life of a whale and her calf who were stranded on a beach in New Zealand yesterday.

The bottle-nosed dolphin led the two whales to the safety of the deep sea after rescuers had almost given up hope of saving the pygmy sperm whales.

Moko, who regularly swims with the townspeople of Mahia in New Zealand, is one in a long line of dolphins who have saved not only whales from drowning but also people and they are considered to be one of the most intelligent of all creatures.

The United Kingdom’s largest group of bottle-nosed dolphins live in the Moray Firth near Inverness in Scotland. But they need protection from oil and gas drilling in the area.  So the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society encourages the sponsorship of the dolphins to help pay for marine biologists to keep an eye on them.

By coincidence, our visitor from the BBC today actually sponsors dolphins in the Moray Firth. “My dolphin is called Sundance and my teenage son Josh sponsors Rainbow,” said Shelley. “They all have distinctive marks on their dorsal fins which makes them easily identifiable and I was lucky enough to see Sundance swimming off the coast when I was on holiday in Scotland last year”.