



This was Elise, one of the Blue Sky crew who fell in love with Moko. He thought she was great too because she would swim down the anchor rope right to the bottom his snout inches from her hands as she pulled herself down. At one stage he nodded his head at her, she nodded back, he wiggled his body, she wiggled back and then he zoomed right up to her faced, stopped and put the end of his nose on hers. She came to the surface and declared "He Kissed Me!!!
Before long all the tourists were back in the boat, Elise remained in the water to tell me where he was going to come up so I could get the last few shots.

All of a sudden he was right under our tiny boat about ten foot down and I saw the most perfect bubble ring rise up to the surface and pop next to me. What an enchanting creature! Back on board Blue Sky we motored away to have refreshments at a nearby Bay at the Island and Moko followed for a while riding our wake as we went. He gave me my best shot of the day.




After seeing Moko I can't help but fear for his future. He has such a faith in human nature and I have a gut feeling that will be his downfall. He is a wild creature and deserves to be able to exist as such. His strange fascination with people is perplexing. He is a bottlenosed dolphin not often seen in these parts but why does he not seek out his own kind? His ability to interact with us makes it so hard to resist wanting to interact back, to observe him in his own environment, to be delighted by his antics. He touched everyone that was there that day and I don't mean physically. But he has already had a taste of what mankind is capable of on a beach down in Gisborne when a crowd of youths reportedly hit him and there were reports of a woman at Omaio hitting him with an oar. He can be a bit "pushy" apparently and after playing with people he tries to stop them leaving especially if they are on kayaks or similar.
I hope he stays offshore where his contact with humans is limited. The crew of the Blue Sky had the utmost respect for him and made sure their patrons did the same but we can't be sure everyone else will have the same attitude. In a way the situation with Moko reflects a lot of what my art is about -mankinds treatment and interaction with nature. Lets hope this story has a happy ending. Kia Kaha Moko!
Many Thanks to Whale and Dolphin Watch Whakatane, the crew of Blue Sky and Whakatane Beacon for such a memorable experience.
6 comments:
Wow Mandy ...that's fantastic!! You've had a once in a lifetime experience. Thank you for the awesome photos ... hoping he'll be around long enough for me to see him too.
Chris Redhead
Thanks Chris, Yes it was an amazing experience! Hope you get to meet him too...He's awesome.
Amazing experience for you Mandy. Great photos thanks.
Thanks Marilyn. Was great to catch up today!
Hello Mandy. I have set up a blog about my experiences and observations of Moko at http://mokoinwhakatane.wordpress.com. I would like to use some of your photographs if that is OK. I can add text to the image with Photoshop to indicate any copyright that you wish to put on them.
Cheers, Chris Redhead
Hi Chris, No problem to use my photos as long as you credit my name. And thanks for asking :)
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