Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the water, along comes Moko, a teenage New Zealand dolphin, estimated to weigh about 500-600 pounds. What makes him a little terror? He steals surfboards from surfers. He keeps swimmers from returning to the beach. He overturns kayaks, and gets overly friendly with Maori war canoes. One female surfer had her board taken away, and had to cling to a sea buoy until rescued. One lady Maori paddler wacked the wayward dolphin over the head with a paddle to get him to leave. But he's still out there, and still performing his shennagins. Here's hoping he doesn't decide to vacation or take up residence in the Pacific northwest. Let's see, how far is it from New Zealand to Vancouver? Thank goodness he doesn't ride a bike. BRC *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Sun, Jan 17, 2010 at 10:12 AM, Bradford R. Crain <crainb_at_pdx.edu> wrote: > Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the water, along > comes Moko, a teenage New Zealand dolphin, > Adolescent dolphins are notorious for being little delinquents. They often hang out in gangs, pick on solitary dolphins of other species, and generally terrorize whatever portion of the ocean they are inhabiting. I wonder if they give their gangs names or have plays named "West Pacific Story". Not just dolphins, by the way. South Africa is having problems with teen-aged elephants doing much the same sorts of things. Because some areas are over populated with elephants and other areas under populated, the authorities decided to kidnap entire groups of elephants and transplant them. But since adolescent elephants often leave their herds for short periods of time, if most of the herd gets transplanted while they're gone that leaves these teens without any adult supervision so they turn hooligan. There are now reports of them killing rhinos just for the fun of it. One such killing was reportedly terribly cruel with the rhino screaming in terror during the attack. It also seems that elephants are ticked off at people in general with several hundred Africans being killed every year. Elephants, like dolphins, are known for the intelligence. If I were that lady who smacked Moko with a paddle I don't think I'd go swimming until he grows out of the phase. Dolphins probably have long memories too. (Obligatory paddling reference... pretty clever, huh?) Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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