http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...nm/20041123/sc_nm/life_newzealand_dolphins_dc Dolphins Protect New Zealand Swimmers from Shark Mon Nov 22, 9:52 PM ET Science - Reuters WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A pod of dolphins circled protectively round a group of New Zealand swimmers to fend off an attack by a great white shark, media reported on Tuesday. Lifesavers Rob Howes, his 15-year-old daughter Niccy, Karina Cooper and Helen Slade were swimming 300 feet off Ocean Beach near Whangarei on New Zealand's North Island when the dolphins herded them -- apparently to protect them from a shark. "They started to herd us up, they pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us," Howes told the New Zealand Press Association (NZPA). Howes tried to drift away from the group, but two of the bigger dolphins herded him back just as he spotted a nine-foot great white shark swimming toward the group. "I just recoiled. It was only about 2 m away from me, the water was crystal clear and it was as clear as the nose on my face," Howes said, referring to a distance of 6 feet. "They had corralled us up to protect us," he said. The lifesavers spent the next 40 minutes surrounded by the dolphins before they could safely swim back to shore. The incident happened on October 30, but the lifesavers kept the story to themselves until now. Environment group Orca Research said dolphins attacked sharks to protect themselves and their young, so their actions in protecting the lifesavers was understandable. "They could have sensed the danger to the swimmers and taken action to protect them," Orca's Ingrid Visser told NZPA.
wow that's awesome...seems kinda of comic bookish. that's one of my biggest fears in life. Sharks. I hate them.
I read that and was wondering how the dolphins could protect the swimmer...wouldn't they themselves be a target for the shark and have no chance against a shark?
The answer (as far as I'm aware based on what I've read and seen a little of) is Yes ... and no! Dolphins can kill a shark, especially smallish sharks, though rarely do, but they will regularly chase them away, especially as the larger males usually form a position on the outskirts of the pod and defend it, I've seen film of them chasing away sharks and making them back off a little, but equally many sharks follow dolphin pods as they pick off older or ill dolphins (though they will usually try to defend the weaker members of a pod as dolphins are extremely social!). Dolphins are often prey to Sharks e.g. Great Whites will prey on fit dolphins. Some contend that Dolphins won't chase off larger sharks, there is evidence for this but also there are observations of Dolphins chasing off largish Oceanic White Tips. Seals have been observed sparring back at Great Whites and nipping tails of Great whites when in the open ocean when a fast seal has little chance of being caught by a GW, its possible that dolphins may try the same if they see it first. The largest species of Dolphin - Killer Whales have been seen killing fairly large sharks and playing with them (but remember a killer whale is a lot bigger than your average Dolphin!). Bottle nosed dolphins are pretty big and very social so are capable of deterring some larger sharks as a group. http://www.sharky-jones.com/Sharkyjones/Slow/QandA/QA2 - Dolphins.html
Dolphins are incredibly friendly creatures, but they can be aggressive when need be. This story doesn't surprise me one bit. Oski: I'm not trying to rag on you or anything, but you have it backwards about whales being dolphins... Killer Whales are whales - they're in the same family as dolphins, but they aren't the same thing.
Why? Killer Whales (scientifically Orcinus orca) belong the Delphinidae (dolphin) family. They have the slight snout, live in pods of family units, have teeth. What big difference, besides size, makes them not dolphins?
Yeah, the LIfesavers thing was getting to me. Just didn't seem right to read that word over and over.
Dolphins are actually toothed whales in the order Cetacea (as all other whales) and the sub-order Odontoceti which is the toothed whales, and this sub-order includes dolphins, killer whales, norwahls, beluga whales, and sperm whales.
Is that a real image or photoshop? Seems kind of far-fetched but those boogers do leap out of the water in follow-through. I have seen one of those shark shows. The dolphins will menace the sharks. The are more nimble in the water so they feel relatively safe. They ram the sharks' underbelly with their snouts and discourage the shark.
Cool story, but why should we believe this? It happened over 3 weeks ago and they kept it to themselves until now? Something sounds fishy.
