A few months ago, a man swimming in the Red Sea off Egypt was suddenly attacked by a shark. After being bitten several times and seeing blood flow, he finally resigned to his death. And then came the dolphins.
“I firmly believe that the dolphins saved my life”
When biologist Nan Hauser swam off Rarotonga in the Cook Islands in 2017, she found herself supported by a humpback whale for minutes before surfacing. At that point, the young woman had not understood the behavior of the mammal. However, a few minutes later she noticed that a five meter long tiger shark was approaching her from below.
More recently, a certain Martin Richardson is said to have been swimming in the Red Sea in Egypt attacked by a mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus). The man, who was bitten five times and started bleeding to death, expected binge eating. Then he turned to the mountains to abandon himself to his fate. At this point, a group of dolphins emerged from behind the victim at the same time. From then on, the attack ended immediately. The man was then pulled onto a boat, which came to his aid. He will have been taken to the hospital I need more than three hundred stitches.
Martin Richardson shared his experiences in a recent episode of National Geographic that focused on these rescue stories. “I firmly believe that dolphins saved my life,” he said.
Another case described in this episode involved a group of lifeguards swimming off the coast of New Zealand. Pursued by a great white shark (Carcharodon carcharia), it would then have been surrounded by a group of dolphins. One of the larger males would then have attacked the predator, which would eventually have fled.
A shortfin mako shark. Credit: Alessandro De Maddalena/iStock
Are these intentional bailouts?
That is indeed a question that arises. Being rescued by another animal is certainly a very romantic idea, but experts are skeptical. As for the case of Martin Richardson, Mike Heithaus, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University, actually believes it was him It is unlikely that these dolphins intentionally saved his life. Rather, the researcher assumes that these animals are probably just animals took the lead in protecting their own young.
In the other two cases mentioned above, however, it is always about interrogations. And for good reason, a team from the Southwest Fisheries Science Center recently presented evidence that humpback whales are indeed capable of doing this Adopt altruistic behavior in case of predator attack by other species.