According to China Radio International, on June 19, Dixon and his companions were working in the northern waters of Queensland, and the trawl was hooked by seaweed, and the shrimp trawler soon sank in the wind and waves. After falling into the water, Dixon floated on the water with an inflatable sampan, but was besieged by about 30 sharks. One of them got closer and closer to him and almost ate him. At this critical moment, several dolphins "bravely acted" to help him out. A few hours later, Dixon was rescued by a passing ship.
After the fishing boat sank, the local police and the maritime rescue department immediately launched a large-scale search and rescue operation, but until the 23rd, no trace of Dixon's two companions was found, so it was estimated that their luck had run out.
Dolphins are good friends of human beings and are called brave lifeguards at sea. The story of dolphins saving lives is not fictional, but very true.
1966, a fishing boat from south Korea unfortunately sank while fishing in the Pacific ocean, and six of the crew of 16 were killed immediately. The remaining 10 crew members were exhausted after swimming in the water for nearly 10 hours. Just when they had no hope of survival, a group of dolphins came in a hurry and surrounded them as if to rescue them. 10 The crew was overjoyed, grabbed the dolphin pectoral fin and climbed onto the dolphin's back. Unexpectedly, the dolphins sank, swam under them automatically, and then lifted themselves up on their backs. In this way, the dolphin swam 46 nautical miles with 10 crew. Then, with a sudden force, they were safely thrown to the shore.
1972 In September, Ivano, a 23-year-old girl from South Africa, was unfortunately overturned by the waves on the sea 40 kilometers away from the coast. When a shark swam towards her, she tried to swim to the shore. She even saw the ferocious face of the shark clearly, and could not help but subconsciously close her eyes and stop breathing. Just then, two dolphins appeared beside her, drove away the shark and escorted her to safety near the port.
1992, an Indonesian cargo ship was sailing in the Atlantic Ocean, and two sailors accidentally fell into the sea. At this time, a group of dolphins came. They formed a circle and carried the drowning man out of the water until he was rescued. Another crew member was struggling in the water when he suddenly felt a bump on his waist. It turned out to be a dolphin. The dolphins stayed with him and swam side by side until the crew swam to the boat.
Why do dolphins have the lofty spirit of saving lives? It's always been incredible. In recent years, this mystery was solved only after people studied dolphins carefully. It's actually quite simple. The life-saving virtue of dolphins comes from their "caring nature" for children.
It turns out that dolphins are mammals that breathe with their lungs. They can dive into the water when swimming, but they have to put their heads out of the sea to breathe every once in a while. Otherwise, you will be drowned by water. So the most important thing for newborn dolphins is to float to the surface as soon as possible to breathe. Under normal circumstances, the baby dolphins can reach the surface smoothly by themselves, but in case of an accident, they need the care of their mothers. She gently lifts the dolphin with a kiss, or holds the pectoral fin of the dolphin with her teeth to make it surface until the dolphin can breathe on its own.
This caring behavior is the instinct of dolphins and all whales. Dolphins' initial motivation may only be to save their young dolphins, but later it has gradually become a kind of accustomed nature, and the object of rescue is not limited to their own children. Anything that doesn't move actively in the water will attract their attention and come to the rescue. Scientists have done many experiments, and the results show that dolphins will take the initiative to rescue anything floating in front of them, whether it is a lifebuoy or a big board.
In addition, taking care of dolphins is not limited to their biological mothers, but other females are also willing to do so. They often cooperate with each other to help the offspring of dolphins. Sometimes, they will put the dolphins together in the middle and put them under their protection. No wonder dolphins often save people in groups.
According to New Zealand media reports, a very touching scene happened in New Zealand recently: at the critical moment when a fierce great white shark was about to steal and attack four swimmers, a group of dolphins "stepped forward" and formed a defensive net around the swimmers, saving their lives. When people lament the unusual behavior of these lovely dolphins, they will definitely ask, what is the reason why dolphins save people? Do they also try to be "living Lei Feng"?
Dolphins saved four lives.
Lifeguard Rob Howes took his 15-year-old daughter Nishi and her two friends swimming in the sea near Huangjiali, the North Island of New Zealand. At this time, several dolphins suddenly swam to them and then swam around.
Howes told the media afterwards: "The dolphins began to swim around the four of us, and then formed a tight circle around us, sandwiching us."
At that time, confused Howes tried to break out of the encirclement, but two big dolphins repelled him. At this moment, Howes was surprised to find a great white shark about 3 meters long swimming towards them. Seeing the great white shark getting closer and closer, the dolphins began to beat the water with their tails to keep the shark away, so the shark had to swim away.
"I was scared. The shark is only two meters away from me. At that time, the water was clear. I can clearly see sharks swimming around looking for opportunities to attack us. " Howes recalled that he said he began to understand at that time that the "purpose" of dolphins surrounding the four of them was to protect them from sharks.
About 40 minutes later, the dolphin was convinced that the shark had left before opening the "protection circle" and escorting Howes and three children back to the shore. Another lifeguard, Matt fleet, was in the lifeboat, and he witnessed the whole process of dolphins rescuing lifeguards. He told the media afterwards that he could see the shark clearly. He said: "Some people on the beach later tried to convince me that it was just a dolphin, but I believe I saw a shark."
It is not uncommon for dolphins to save lives.
What happened to Howes and others was disclosed by the media, which caused strong repercussions internationally. For many people, what they want to know most is why dolphins save people.
In fact, there are many wonderful legends about dolphins saving lives in history. As early as the 5th century BC, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus recorded the miracle that dolphins saved lives. On one occasion, the musician Ariane returned to Corinth, Greece by boat with a large sum of money. During the voyage, the sailors are going to kill for money. Seeing that the situation was not good, Alion begged the sailors to allow him to play the last song of his life, and then he threw himself into the arms of the sea. Just when his life was in danger, a dolphin swam over and took the musician all the way to the Peloponnesus. Although this story has been circulating for a long time, many people still find it incredible.
1949, the wife of a lawyer in Florida, USA, disclosed her strange experience of being rescued from drowning at sea in Natural History magazine: when she was swimming at a beach, she suddenly fell into an underwater undercurrent, and rows of turbulent waves came at her. Just when she was about to go into a coma, a dolphin swam quickly, gave her a sharp push with its sharp beak, and then pushed her several times until she was pushed into shallow water. After waking up, the woman looked around to see who saved herself. However, there is no one on the beach, only a dolphin is playing in the water not far from the shore. In recent years, there are more and more similar reports, which shows that dolphins were never invented by people.
Three Views on Dolphins Saving People
But the question is, why do dolphins save people? Many scientists are also interested in this issue, but until today there is no unified view. Scientists have the following three main explanations for dolphins saving lives.
"Caring Nature" says that the life-saving virtue of dolphins comes from their "caring nature" for their children. As the basis of this instinct, it is an unconditional reflection. That is to say, whenever the dolphin's head comes out of the water, it will automatically open the spray hole and complete the breathing action. Dolphins like to push floating objects on the sea. They often like to lift their newborn babies out of the water or their sick or injured companions. This "caring nature" of dolphins is not only manifested in the same kind, but also in other animals, and even in various inanimate objects, such as turtle carcasses and wood floating in the sea. So once you meet a drowning person, you may instinctively push it to the shore as a floating object, thus saving people.
"Be brave" said: In the past few centuries, many similarities between dolphins and humans have been talked about by people. Dolphin is smart because it has a developed brain and many ditches. The more ditches, the more developed the intelligence. The average brain weight of adult dolphins is 1.6 kg, that of humans is about 1.5 kg, and that of orangutans is less than 0.25 kg. In terms of absolute weight, dolphins are the first, but in terms of the ratio of brain weight to body weight, human brain accounts for 2. 1%, dolphins account for 1. 17%, and orangutans only account for 0.7%. Obviously, the dolphin is an animal with high IQ, and its "feat" of saving people is a conscious act. Because in most cases, dolphins will push people to the shore, not the sea. 14 Ingrid Wiezell, who studies marine mammals, said that there are many reports about dolphins protecting swimmers in the world. When dolphins may feel that human beings are in danger, they will take immediate action to protect them. Dolphins sometimes even "fight" with sharks to protect themselves and their cubs.
"frolic" said: dolphins are naturally active and good at imitation, and their favorite thing is to play in the water. Therefore, everything they touch has become their toys. Why do dolphins push people ashore instead of teasing people in the water like toys? This is related to the habits of dolphins, which like to cruise back and forth in deep water and shallow water. If a person falls into the water in deep water and happens to meet a group of dolphins who are guerrilla in shallow water, they will push the person into shallow water, or push the drowning person to the shore. So, why do dolphins protect drowning people or swimmers from sharks? Because the shark's "radar" sense of smell is particularly sensitive, if the drowning person happens to land in the shark-infested waters, the smell emitted by the human body will soon attract sharks. If a group of dolphins happen to be playing with the drowning people at this time, then the dolphins will think that sharks are coming to grab their "toys" and fight with them. Dolphins and sharks are natural enemies. Although sharks are the overlord in the ocean, they usually act alone, while dolphins are in groups. In this way, sharks are naturally driven away.