Tuesday, November 23, 2004

The better species

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Dolphins prevent NZ shark attack
A group of swimmers has told how a pod of dolphins protected them from a great white shark off New Zealand's coast.

The lifeguards were training at a beach near Whangarei on the North Island when they were menaced by a 3-metre shark, before the dolphins raced in to help.

The swimmers were surrounded by the dolphins for 40 minutes before they were able to make it safely back to the beach.

Supposedly this is not terribly rare. Dolphins seem to have a soft spot for helpless creatures. In other words, they are stupidly sentimental.

Or maybe they're just better than us.

There's a brilliant Onion parody about emergent mutant dolphins with opposable thumbs. The Onion 'interviews" a terrified marine biologist cowering in a shark cage; he anticipates the inevitable and just vengeance of the unstoppable dolphins. Perhaps they'd be more merciful than we imagine.

Too bad they don't seem to be designed to take over ...

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