Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Dolphin: Never abandon your mate

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-20 11:37

A dolphin's story moved a lot of human beings after it was reported to have stayed with his wounded mate for three days and then led him to the seaside for help.

Specta, a one-day-old bottlenose dolphin, swims with mother Lily at Ancol water park in Jakarta February 12, 2009. [Agencies]

Before he was savaged by a shark severely last Friday, Nari, the 12-year-old dolphin, usually came for a nightly hand-feeding ritual on the coast of Moreton Island, near Brisbane, together with his other 12 mates.

Marine vets feared he had died when he did not appear at feeding time for days.

However, on Tuesday night Nari reappeared at the beach, looking tired and frail. He was led in to shore by his mate Echo, where he was captured by waiting vets and volunteers without a struggle.

"Dolphins are highly social animals and they have an extremely strong bond. There is no reason to think other than that Echo stayed with Nari for a few days, waiting until Nari was well enough to make it back to the feeding area," said Mr Trevor Long, a dolphin expert from Sea World on the Gold Coast.

"The fact that Echo failed to show up when the injured Nari was also absent suggests they remained together further out to sea for a few days," he added.

Experts suggested that Echo's sympathy for Nari may stem from an incident in 1996 when Echo was himself attacked by a shark.

Nari was transferred to Sea World on the Gold Coast where it underwent surgery for deep wounds and was given antibiotics to prevent infection.

It is recovering under the watchful eye of marine vets and is expected to rejoin the pod and his mate Echo within eight weeks.