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Dolphins save NZ lifeguards from Great White Shark.

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Ripclawe

Banned
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,11472652%5E1702,00.html

Dolphins save men from shark
From correspondents in Whangarei, New Zealand
23nov04

SWIMMERS have told how a pod of dolphins protected them from a great white shark off the northeastern coast of New Zealand.

Rob Howes and three other lifeguards were on a training swim about 100 metres offshore at Ocean Beach, near Whangarei, when the dolphins raced in and herded the group together.
"They started to herd us up, they pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us," Mr Howe said.

When he tried to drift away from the group, two of the bigger dolphins herded him back.

He then saw why. A three metre great white shark was cruising toward the group about two metres below the surface.


"I just recoiled. It was only about two metres away from me, the water was crystal clear and it was as clear as the nose on my face," he said, adding he then realised the dolphins had moved in to protect the swimmers.

The group were surrounded by the dolphins for 40 minutes before they were able to reach the shore.
 

Jeffahn

Member
Go Flipper!

anatomy.jpg
 

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
That is seriously fucking cool. I love stories about wild dolphins going out of their way to protect people. I mean, what compels them to do that? That's just awesome.
 

SSGMUN10000

Connoisseur Of Tedium
Yeah dolphins are pretty awesome and I also want to what compels them to do this.


Trakball said:
and we shank their asses for tuna meat *sigh*


Yeah thats pretty horrible. There is a pic somewhere that shows a bunch of slaughtered dolphins that would just make you just shake your head.
 

hXc_thugg

Member
If only this amazing super-team of Dolphins would of been around to rescue that elderly South African women from the Great White last week.
 

Ripclawe

Banned
checking around I found this as well.

so Killer Whales>>>Dolphins>>>Great White Shark.

http://www.cnn.com/EARTH/9710/08/whale.vs.shark/whale.shark.15.mov

Move over, Jaws. An underwater battle captured on videotape proves that killer whales are the kings of the sea.

The first known videotape of a clash between a killer whale and a great white shark has enthralled whale watchers all over the world.

"Nothing like this has been known to happen before," said Mary Jane Schramm, a naturalist who witnessed the attack Saturday off the Farallon Islands.

Marine biologists had assumed that the ocean's two big predators tended to avoid each other. But the tape shows otherwise.

The expedition found the two killer whales -- a 20-foot-long female and a youngster about half her length -- were still there, swimming idly about.

"Then we noticed this dark shape moving in the water, giving the orcas a wide berth," Schramm said.

The adult orca veered toward the dark shape, and then surged to the surface with a 10-foot-long great white shark in her jaws. "We were stunned," Schramm said.

The killer whale eventually swam away from the boat and began thrashing the shark on the surface of the water, a practice orcas typically employ with their prey.

Around this time, Peter Pyle, a great white shark expert with the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, arrived on the scene. He got within 5 feet of the killer whales, then used a special underwater camera to record the attack.

Having made her kill, the victorious orca let her maternal instinct take over.

"The female apparently killed the shark, but she didn't eat it -- she was encouraging the calf to feed," Schramm said.
 

Slo

Member
J2 Cool said:
really? .. hmm. I can't place seeing them anywhere

They were part of the grapevine that brought news of Nemo's father's journey to the dentist's office.
 

Jim Bowie

Member
hXc_thugg said:
If only this amazing super-team of Dolphins would of been around to rescue that elderly South African women from the Great White last week.

Dolphins are racists, dude. Duh.

BTW, this was Aquaman's doing. It's obvious.

BTW, Aquaman sucks.
 
Depends on the size of the shark. The 2 sharks put in this story are small. Both around 10 feet. Those are adolescent Great Whites. Let me know when this is being done to an 18 footer.
 

border

Member
Wow, that was the most disappointing video ever. Are you sure there's not more footage somewhere? I don't see how that would "enthrall" anyone.
 
border said:
Wow, that was the most disappointing video ever. Are you sure there's not more footage somewhere? I don't see how that would "enthrall" anyone.

lol, worst footage ever, there is no content in that video!
 
I remember seeing a different clip of a great white and killer whale fighting, where you could see them coming up out of the water.
 
Last time I go swimming in the ocean here :eek:

Thought we were safe in NZ from all man-eating creatures (snakes, naughty spiders, great whites etc.).
 
It's one of my crazy theories that dolphins are smarter than humans. Swimming around all day >>>>> going to school, getting a job, becoming part of some corporate machine, etc. Of course, I believe in evolution so take from that what you will.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Manabanana said:
It's one of my crazy theories that dolphins are smarter than humans. Swimming around all day >>>>> going to school, getting a job, becoming part of some corporate machine, etc. Of course, I believe in evolution so take from that what you will.

Heh, remember the Simpsons episode where Dolphins take over the world? Classic.
 

Saturnman

Banned
demon said:
That is seriously fucking cool. I love stories about wild dolphins going out of their way to protect people. I mean, what compels them to do that? That's just awesome.

Makes humans crave dolphin meat less and keeps dolphins out of human fish nets. :)
 

DarthWoo

I'm glad Grandpa porked a Chinese Muslim
I wanted to be a dolphin for the longest time when I was in elementary school. Made me really sad when I read a National Geographic article on how dolphins were frequently being trapped in tuna nets and drowned. :(
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
Dude, did you see that Jaws movie set in Sea World. I dont remember which one it was, but that dolphin fucked Jaws up.
 

sonicfan

Venerable Member
mashoutposse said:
That would be a funny pic if the whale was alive :lol


Yeah, Megaladon was basically a massive Great White shark, probably up to 50 ft long.

Megaladon, vs. GW, man..

taille.jpg
 

Saturnman

Banned
sonicfan said:
Killer whales are truely the badest creature in the sea. I wonder how they would have fared against a Megalodon.

machoire_megalodon.gif

Then they'd probably attack it with their pod, like they do with some whales.

However, I have never of killer whales attacking sperm whales.
 

Ripclawe

Banned
Saturnman said:
Then they'd probably attack it with their pod, like they do with some whales.

However, I have never of killer whales attacking sperm whales.


Revision: Killer Whales>>>> Sperm Whales>>>>> Dolphins>>>> Great White Shark.

http://swfsc.nmfs.noaa.gov/NewsRel/110797.htm

In what is believed to be a very rare event, a group of nine adult sperm whales were attacked by approximately twenty-five killer whales sixty miles off the central California coast, as witnessed and filmed by NOAA scientists on a research vessel last month, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), sponsors of the cruise.

The NOAA ship David Starr Jordan was conducting a NMFS research cruise to collect data on the behavior and social groupings of the sperm whale when the attack occurred. One adult sperm whale was killed and eaten with several others sustaining life threatening wounds during the attack that lasted over five hours.

"Although rarely witnessed, killer whales have been seen attacking small sperm whale calves, but never attacking and killing adults," said Dr. Susan Chivers, NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) and Chief Scientist on the cruise. "The defensive posturing of the sperm whales was very interesting although rather ineffective in this encounter. They exhibited behavior previously reported only by whalers of past decades wherein the group formed a rosette pattern with their heads pointing inward in a hub fashion and their flukes (tails) projecting out from the center of the hub. This enables the use of flukes as a defensive weapon."

Dr. Barbara Taylor, also with the SWFSC and Chief Scientist on an earlier sister cruise, commented that only six killer whale attacks on sperm whales have ever been seen and recorded in the scientific literature. "Originally given the name whale killers' by whalers, killer whales have killed almost every other large whale, including fin, Bryde's, minke, humpback, bowhead, southern right, gray, and even the adult blue whale weighing approximately 100 tons," said Taylor.

Five days after the first encounter, the cruise observed several small groups of sperm whales. Detecting the presence of killer whales, the sperm whale groups gathered into one group of about 50 animals. The sperm whales were seen to line up in two parallel ranks, all facing the same direction. Calves were present in the group. The killer whales departed without making an attack.
 

Ripclawe

Banned
Saturnman said:
But not the adults. :)


wait a minute, you mean a one on one attack?


In what is believed to be a very rare event, a group of nine adult sperm whales were attacked by approximately twenty-five killer whales sixty miles off the central California coast, as witnessed and filmed by NOAA scientists on a research vessel last month, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), sponsors of the cruise.

The NOAA ship David Starr Jordan was conducting a NMFS research cruise to collect data on the behavior and social groupings of the sperm whale when the attack occurred. One adult sperm whale was killed and eaten with several others sustaining life threatening wounds during the attack that lasted over five hours.
 

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
It's interesting to hear the family tightness between animals, both physically and emotionally.

As for the dolphins protecting the swimmers, I guess it could be the same way when my sister's friend was crying out in the backyard once, drunk as a skunk. My dog instantly went up to her to see if she was alright, wouldn't go away till I told him to. Has done that quite a lot for my littlest brother whenever he hurts himself but I never expected him to do it for someone he rarely ever interacts with.

He's the best, thrashed a pit bull terrier once though nowadays he'd probably just stare lazily at it barking and fall back asleep. Staffordshire Terriers > *
 

Shinobi

Member
sonicfan said:
Killer whales are truely the badest creature in the sea. I wonder how they would have fared against a Megalodon.



If this pic is any indication of it's comparative size, no beast past or present would have a fucking chance...

mega_surfer.jpg


If they ever make a new Jaws movie, it'll have to be based on a 50 foot Megalodon (or a lot longer, as the original novel suggested). Nothing else will do.

I absolutely love the king creatures of the water. Dolphins are just mindblowingly cool. No animal I'd want more for a pet. Killer Whales seem to have much of a dolphin's intelligence, with some bad assness mixed in. And great whites are just outright bad asses. Mixed with all the other wierd and whacky spieces in the water, and you've got a stunning array of power, intelligence and beauty.
 
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