Moko was a male bottlenose dolphin

Bottlenose Dolphin

Bottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Recent molecular studies show the genus contains two species, the common bottlenose dolphin and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin , instead of one...

 who associated with humans on the east coast of the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

 of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 from 2007 to 2010.

Moko, short for Mokotahi, a headland on Mahia Peninsula, was three-years-old as of July 2009. He resided at Mahia Beach for two and a half years from 2007 to September 2009, and became a major attraction there. He received worldwide fame when he rescued two pygmy sperm whale

Pygmy Sperm Whale

The Pygmy Sperm Whale is one of three species of toothed whale in the sperm whale family. They are not often sighted at sea, and most of what is known about them comes from the examination of stranded specimens.-Taxonomy:...

s in March 2008. A year later, he trapped a woman out at sea. At the beginning of September 2009 Moko moved 80 km up the coast to Waikanae Beach, Gisborne

Gisborne, New Zealand

-Economy:The harbour was host to many ships in the past and had developed as a river port to provide a more secure location for shipping compared with the open roadstead of Poverty Bay which can be exposed to southerly swells. A meat works was sited beside the harbour and meat and wool was shipped...

, and in January 2010 he moved to Whakatane

Whakatane

Whakatane is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region, in the North Island of New Zealand, and is the seat of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Whakatane is 90 km east of Tauranga and 89 km north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatane River.The town has a population of , with...

 in the Bay of Plenty

Bay of Plenty

The Bay of Plenty , often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name...

 for five months before following a fishing boat to Tauranga on 3 June. Scientist

Scientist

A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...

s were worried about Moko's welfare after a study found he had been scarred by boats and a fish hook. He was found dead on a beach at Matakana Island near Tauranga on 7 July 2010.

Rescue of pygmy sperm whales

In March 2008, Moko was seen helping two pygmy sperm whales that were trapped between a sandbar and Mahia beach. A local man who found the whales told his neighbour, Malcolm Smith, who was a Department of Conservation worker. Smith and other rescuers tried for an hour and a half to re-float the whales, with no success. Smith was wondering if it would be better to kill the two whales when Moko appeared. Moko approached the pair of distressed whales and led them through a narrow channel to the safety of the sea.

Stranding of a swimmer

In summer many people swam with Moko at Mahia, but residents believed that during the winter, when there were fewer people, the dolphin got lonely and bored. During the winter (July) of 2009, a New Zealand swimmer, who left late to go swimming at Mahia on her own, started to play with Moko. Difficulties arose when the woman became tired, and the dolphin, who was still playing, did not allow her to return to the shore. As a result of this, the woman began to panic. People back at shore heard the now exhausted woman screaming for help, and rowed out to rescue her. They found her wrapped around a buoy, and took her back to the shore. Later the woman said that going out on her own at that late time had probably been unwise and that Moko had meant no harm.

Welfare

Scientists became worried about Moko's safety after finding that he had been scarred by boats and had received a scar on his upper-right jaw from a fish hook. They noted that out of 30 "lone" dolphins that have been identified around the globe, 14 have been killed or injured as a result of their interactions with human

Human

Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...

s.
A marine welfare organisation, Project Jonah, said that people should give the dolphin his space.
Moko was found dead a few months later.

See also

• Bottlenose dolphin
  Bottlenose Dolphin
  Bottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Recent molecular studies show the genus contains two species, the common bottlenose dolphin and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin , instead of one...
  
  
• Opo (dolphin)
• Pelorus Jack
  Pelorus Jack
  Pelorus Jack was a Risso's dolphin that was famous for meeting and escorting ships through a stretch of water in Cook Strait, New Zealand, between 1888 and 1912...
  
  
• Fungi

External links

• Moko the Dolphin on BlooSee