15 March 2008

On some linguistic wonders

The story's headline is simple, clear and wondrous: Dolphin rescues stranded whales.

For a change, I am not making fun of the on-line edition editor. The story is really something:

A dolphin swam up to two distressed whales that appeared headed for death in a beach stranding in New Zealand and guided them to safety, witnesses said Wednesday.

The actions of the bottlenose dolphin -- named Moko by residents who said it spends much of its time swimming playfully with humans at the beach -- amazed would-be rescuers and an expert who said they were evidence of the species' friendly nature.
Really first of a kind, and hooray to Moko. She is quite a gal!

Anyhow, there was a wonder of a different nature that drew my attention: the insidious expert-speak:
...it's the first time I've heard of an inter-species refloating technique.
Surely it's a good thing dolphins don't read...

0 comments: