On Marco Island, Florida a group of
dolphins came to the aid of a lost Dog that
had fallen into a canal and couldn't get
out. The dolphins made so much noise, it
attracted the attention of people living
nearby, who then rescued the dog. The
Dog was believed to have spent 15 hours
in the canal water before he was pulled out
by fire personnel and reunited with his
owner.
One of the people whose attention was
captured by the noisy, demonstrative
dolphins said, "They were really putting up
a ruckus, almost beaching themselves on
the sandbar over there. If it wasn't for the
dolphin, I would have never seen the
dog.” (Source: ABC7news) He said also if
the dolphins hadn't persisted enough to get
their attention, they dog would have died in
the canal. The dog had fallen over the edge
of a concrete wall down into the water far
enough that it had no chance of getting
back up by itself. The dog was exhausted
from being in the cold water for hours, and
most likely suffering from hypothermia.
Dolphins have been known to sometimes
help stranded or injured people as well. In
2007, a pod of dolphins formed a ring
around a surfer who was injured and
bleeding after being bitten by a Great White
shark. The surfer survived because they
prevented further bites. No one knows
exactly why dolphins have intervened in
such emergency situations, and helped
save the lives of other species. Suffice to
say they are capable of empathy and
heroic actions
